Kaiser Hunter Ken
by Lance Murdock
Summary: AU In every world there is a Kaiser. No matter the circumstances, he will always exist. And always, the chosen children will be there to stop him. However, sometimes they fail. If that happens, only one being can stop him, Himself.
1. Prologue

I don't own Digimon. Hello to all. This is Lance Murdock. This is the first fic I've taken time to actually write. However, do not let this stop you from giving your honest opinion about it. If you don't tell me what you like or dislike about my story, then I won't be able to improve upon it. And one more thing. I will not accept a flame. By flame, I mean an insult. I work hard to bring this to people who might want to read it. To just insult me or my work will only prove you can't discuss this in a civilized manner and that you only crave attention and lack intelligence. With that out of the way, on to the fic.

----------------------- Prologue -----------------------  
  
In the middle of a dank, dark forest in the Digital World, a bright light illuminates the area. Were any one close to the source, they would see four beings emerge from the light. As the light died down, the taller of the beings examined the area, searching for something. He found the object of his search when his eyes rest on one of many large black towers. _'A control spire.'_ The being silently observed, _'So he's taken over.'  
_  
The being turned over to his small companions, seeing the determination in their eye. They had seen the towers too. He addressed them. "Well, guys. It's time to go to work."

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Sorry if it doesn't give much. This is intentional.


	2. Escape

I don't own Digimon

------------------------------------------- Chapter 1 – Escape --------------------------------

Three days later  
  
This day, like many others, was not a good one for Davis Motomiya. Of course, it's never a good day for anyone when your forced to serve the Digimon Emperor like a dog. Davis was currently cleaning the battlefield outside the Emperor's castle. Apparently a large battle took place. So I was his job today to clean the battlefield of any weapons. Davis thought back to a time when he'd rather die then serve the tyrant. He still would, but it wasn't his life on the line. It was that of his partner's, Veemon.  
  
Davis shook his head and signed sadly. _No point in thinking about this_. He just hoped that one day he'd be out of this hellhole. The chosen of courage and friendship glance at the sky. _It's almost nighttime. Better hurry along._ He glanced at the massive field. Not that much left to go. Davis rarely paid attention to anything he picked up. After all, it was always the same thing. A few guns here, a few swords there. Every so often a body part from a machine digimon. Always the same.  
  
But then, something caught his notice. A silver object. Not the right shape to be a gun. It was pretty far away, so he couldn't get a good look at it. As he got closer however, his heart skipped a beat, and he broke into a run till he was right above it. "It can't be" he whispered, "A D-Terminal?" It was indeed a D-Terminal. 'Well let's see who it belongs to.' He opened the device up and accessed the computer, searching for personal information. As expected he found none. Then he thought of something, and checked it out. 'It's a long shot. But might as well check.' Even if there were some there, he wouldn't be able to use them, since the Emperor wore his D3 like a trophy.  
  
Unfortunately, he didn't get time to check, "Hey slave! What are you doing?" Davis didn't bother turning around. He put his discovery in his tattered clothes and continued picking up what was left. He didn't continue for long as something wrap around his leg. Next thing he knew he was on the ground and a boot was pressed against his throat. He looked directly into the eyes of the Emperor, not budging an inch. "I asked you a question, answer it!" "I was doing what I was told." Davis replied calmly. "Lying to you master wouldn't be wise, boy." Then Davis' infamous smirk of arrogance appeared. "Who says I'm lying?" This got the reaction Davis wanted, anger. The tyrant started to drag Davis back inside the castle. "It doesn't matter," he stated, "It's time for your daily beating anyway." Davis inwardly cringed at the thought.  
  
Having to clean a massive battlefield, Davis didn't mind. Receiving daily whippings, Davis could tolerate. And, if not for certain conditions, Davis could take daily beatings from an Andromon. But when the conditions are getting beaten by your best friend and partner, then well, it's hard to stay sane. At this point, the chosen of courage and friendship was literally numb from the pain. It had been 3 hours so far, yet Veemon just keep on going. Finally, the Emperor whistled, signaling the end. As Davis watched them go, he remember the D-Terminal, and pray it wasn't damaged. It wasn't. He sat up against the wall turned it on, thankful for the light that it admitted. Before he could go back to what he was doing, he received a message.  
-----------------------------------------  
Exactly 1 day later  
  
Davis had never been so anxious in all his life. He had also never looked forward to his daily beating session before either. 'He's late. He's never late.' Then Davis hear something, footsteps. About time. He step over to the door to his cell. When the Emperor walked in, Davis did what he had wanted to do since day one of his enslavement, With all his strength, he punch the tyrant right on the nose. He felt great satisfaction when he saw that he broke it. The Emperor looked as if he had just been shot. It didn't take him long to bark orders, "Veemon! Kill him!" Veemon jumped at Davis, but before he reached him Davis grabbed him by the neck. 'This better work.' Davis pressed down on a certain spot were the dark ring was located, then he heard a breaking sound as pieces of the object fell to the floor.  
  
"Veemon, that you buddy?" the digimon shook his head to clear it" Davish, what happen? My head feels funny and ugh!" the digimon was interrupted as Davis squeezed the life out of him. "Your OK! Your finally OK!" he laughed. Veemon didn't know what was going on but he went with it. The celebration was short live as Davis dodged a ball of fire. "So you managed to free your friend. Big deal. With out your digivice or D-Terminal you can't do a thing! Now destroy them Meramon!"  
  
Davis dodged another fireball "You mean these?" he showed him the D3 and D- Terminal. The emperor searched himself 'He took it from me when he hit me!' Davis' infamous smirk reappeared, " Didn't expect that, did ya Kenny? Veemon, it's showtime!" and with great joy, he shouted those magic words, "Digi-Armor Energize!"  
  
"Veemon, armor digivolve to...Flamedramon, the fire of Courage!  
  
The emperor could only watch as Flamedramon his reappearance for the first time in 3 years. Wasting no time, he made his exit.  
  
Flamedramon grappled with the Meramon, trying to overcome it. Finally, he pushed the other digimon back, then he took aim, "Fire Rocket!" the blast went straight for the dark ring, destroying it. Davis ran over to Meramon "Hey pal, you ok?" The digimon look back at him, "I...don't know. Where are we?" "In the heart of the Digimon Emperor's base! We got to get out of here! Flamedramon, you up for it?" the digimon nodded immediately. "Then let's go!"  
  
The three ran down the vast corridor of castle, Davis leading the way. The alarms sounded, and they soon got company, four Ogremon. The two digimon were prepared to destroythe darkrings when they noticed something. Davis confirmed their suspicions, "They aren't wearing dark rings! You know what that means!" That was all that was needed. Meramon and Flamedramon wasted no time, charging at the enemy. The Ogremon separated, two taking on Flamedramon, the other two taking Meramon. Flamedramon ducked the club of an Ogremon, and countered with an uppercut, knocking the digimon off balance. Before Flamedramon could take advantage, the other Ogremon struck him from behind. Angered, Flamedramon delivered a roundhouse kick to the other Ogremon, knocking him off his feet. Flamedramon turned around, sensing the first Ogremon sneak up on him. He struck the first with his claw, piercing the Ogremon's flesh. "Fire Rocket!" the flame filled the Ogremon's body, deleting him immediately.  
  
Turning back around, he noticed the second Ogremon try to attack him again. "Bone Club!" Flamedramon ducked the attack, and began charging for his Fire Rocket attack. As he was about to release it, a blast of purple energy came at him. He dodged the blast, unaware of the trap he'd been lured into. "Pummel Whack!" It was a direct hit at point blank range. Flamedramon flew right pass Davis, de-digivolving into Veemon. Davis ran over to his partner. "Veemon! Wake up! Come on, pal!" As Davis worried over his partner, Ogremon moved in for the kill. "Pummel.." Ogremon stopped when something tap his shoulder. He turned around to see Meramon behind him. Before he could respond, Meramon attacked, "Roaring Fire!" Ogremon barely screamed as the flames deleted him.  
  
"Are you two OK?" Meramon asked. Davis stood, holding a weakened Veemon. "He should be fine after some rest. We should go." Davis said. The Meramon replied, "Very well. Lead the way." Davis continued along the way, Meramon trailing. They ran into few company, which Meramon took care of. Finally, they came across the entrance, guarded by 2 Guardromon. As Meramon went to attack, Davis held him back. "Wait for it." He told him. As they waited, Meramon asked "Tell me, what is today?" Davis mentally calculated the days, "Last I remember it was April 7th." Meramon digested the information, then asked, "And what would your name be?" "Davis Motomiya." Meramon's eyes widened slightly, but before he could say anything, an explosion of golden energy erupted at the entrance, deleting the guards instantly.  
  
When the explosion died down, in its place was a blue digimon covered in gold armor. The digimon walked up to the three. "Daisuke Motomiya?" Davis didn't know the first name, but understood the last. "Um that's Davis. Davis Motomiya." The gold clad digimon nodded. "Right. And him?" he gestured to Meramon. "He's helping us escape." The digimon nodded again. "We should go. The Kaiser will send reinforcements." He turned to leave. Davis didn't understand half of what this guy was saying. Who is this Daisuke and this Kaiser? All he did was follow, hoping to get answers soon.  
-------------------------------------  
Outside the castle  
  
"Thing never seem to go my way." Davis mumbled as he looked at the force of 4 Airdramon and 4 Sabredramon in the air. Veemon was up by then. "Don't worry Davish. I'll take the take the 2 on the left. Meramon, you take the 2 on the right. Mysterious gold guy, you look pretty tough. You take the 4 in the middle." "Veemon, you're not helping." Before the two could argue, the gold clad digimon spoke "You guys should take cover." Then he flew off. The three did as told, hiding behind a large rock.  
  
Davis looked up to see the digimon glow golden. "Magna Explosion!" It looked as if the digimon turned into a large orb of energy, blinding all that beheld it . The orb began to expand, engulfing all the digimon around it. As Davis listened to the screams, he couldn't help but feel sorry for the digimon caught in the blast. When all was said and done, the gold-clad digimon flew to them. He was breathing heavily. "You alright?" Davis questioned. "Yes. Using that technique drains a large reserve of my energy. Let go. I can't maintain this form for long."

They turned to run when they heard sometime. Looking around, Meramon saw several Monochromon heading towards them. "Ok, this is getting irritating!" Davis exclaimed. Meramon turned to them. "Go. I'll hold them off." Davis objected immediately "Not a chance! You don't stand a chance against those odds!" before Davis could object further, the gold clad digimon grabbed him and Veemon and put them on his shoulder. "Let me go!" the digimon spoke calmly "Meramon is sacrificing his life for ours. Will you waste it?" the digidestined glanced at Meramon, the digimon glanced back. "So you are Davis. I have heard of you. Listen, I am with the resistance. From what I gather I've been captive for little over a week. Listen Davis, go to the city of Folder. The resistance is based there. It should not be hard for you to find the ones in charge. They know you well. Will you do this for me?" Davis aborbed the information, and nodded solemely. Then, Meramon turned and headed into battle. The gold clad digimon headed to a nearby forest, not looking back.  
---------------------------------  
In a forest  
  
"How far is it anyway?" Davis asked for the fourth time. And for the fourth time the gold clad digimon didn't answer. Davis snorted something about 'uptight pricks', but it fell on deaf ears. Veemon glanced at his partner with a worried expression. Davis didn't fail to notice. "What is it buddy?" Veemon didn't hesitate. "Davish, What happened to ya? You have so many bruises and scars." Veemon seemed afraid to ask the next question. He asked anyway, in hopes of being proven wrong, "Did I, did I do this to you?" This was something that Davis didn't want to answer. He didn't want to lie to his friend, but telling the truth would be far worse in this case,"You? Hell no! Your my bestest bud, my guy to turn to! You, do this?" he pointed to a scar,"I think not." _Well,technically it's not lying._ "It was that Ken! Trust me when I say he'll pay."_And pay dearly._ Veemon nodded and put on a fake smile. He said nothing else, left to wonder on his suspisions.

Silence followed till they reached a circular opening. The gold clad digimon walked to the center, then he collapsed to the ground, completely out of energy. He began to glow as a beam shot from him to a large tree branch. As the glow faded it left behind a very familiar digimon. Davis was a person of many words, but sometimes there were moments were words where not enough. Now was one of those times.

"Veemon, tell me your seeing what I'm seeing." Davis asked in a shaky voice. Before the digimon could answer a voice interrupted, "I imagine things may be confusing for you,"a voice interrupted. "But after I explain a few things, you'll understand." "Where are you?" Davis asked. He was tired of all the games. Of not getting sraight answers. Tonight's little event, everything that had happened was baring down on him. "Alright, have it your way." Davis saw someone jump out of a tree. _The same tree that beam went to.'_ The being jumped over to the fallen digimon. "Hey Veemon. You OK?" he asked, his voice full of concern. "I'll be fine. Just need to rest a bit." The being picked Veemon up and turned around to face Davis. Veemon lost all ability to speak, and Davis could only get out one word, "Ken!?!"


	3. Enter the Kaiser Hunter

I don't own Digimon. I'm going to mark this Ken and others from different dimensions so no one gets confused.  
  
Chapter 2- Enter the Kaiser Hunter  
  
Davis and Veemon looked on as -Ken Ichijouji-, a person who they loathed with all their being, picked up a Veemon, a Digimon thought to be one of a kind. They didn't know whether to attack him or not. They decided against it when two digimon came beside -'Ken'-. One was a large black and green insect. The other was a woman in a black, red and green body suit with a rose-shaped helmet, long thorn-embedded whip, and silver and black rapier. He noticed -'Ken'- for the first time as well.  
  
This -'Ken'- wore a mid-sized gray coat, a bluish purple dress shirt, black pants with matching shoes, and those large shades or goggles, Davis could never tell, that the Emperor wore, except the golden part was a dark silver color. His hair wasn't spiky, like the Emperor's, but down like the Ken of the real world. On his wrists were two large watch-like devices. On his belt were a digivice 01, and sheathed katana and a whip. This person looked exactly like Ken, yet it was obvious that he was different. While he wondered how he got so much info in the dark, he halfway listened to the conversation the digimon and -'Ken'- had.  
  
"Did you find anything out?" -'Ken'- asked. The green digimon spoke, "Takeru is being held in a camp to the west of Folder City. Nothing else." The female digimon spoke next, "I haven't been able to confirm, but Miyako is leading the resistance in Little Edo. And Hikari might be captive somewhere on File Island. I'm sorry if I haven't been able confirm." -Ken- shook his head. "It's alright. You did what you could. That's all I can ask." "What happened to -Veemon-?" Ken gave -Veemon -a scolding, yet caring look, " Knowing him, he used that damned technique of his. I told you not to use that, did I not?" "Kinda had no choice," -Veemon- stated, looking over to Davis and his counterpart, "We got cornered."  
  
Davis had had enough, "What the hell is going on here?!?"- Ken- seemed slightly startled. "Right back to business. But first," he handed Veemon over to the female digimon and he walked over to Davis, reached behind his ear, and pulled a small device from it, so quickly Davis didn't have time to complain. "Hmph," –Ken- snorted in disgust, "So predictable." He crushed the device. "That was a tracking device the Kaiser put on you. Now that that's outta the way let's start. Judging by the look on your face, you know who I am. But I'm going to tell you right now that I'm not the Ken you know." Davis looked skeptical. He didn't know what to think. He decide to do at least listen what this '-Ken-' said, "So, who are you?"  
  
"I'm from another dimension."  
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Meanwhile, in the castle of the Emperor, the Emperor himself was livid. He was currently sitting in the control room of the base, watching the video of the events that just took place. It still puzzled him how that pathetic excuse for a digidestined got that D-Terminal. What's more he had the audacity to hit him! Him, who was the supreme ruler of this world! _He will die for this! I guarantee it!_ But first, he had to find him. The fool would never suspect he placed a tracking device on him. All he had to do was track his location and next thing he knew, the rat would be at his feet. When he was, the last few years will seem like nothing in comparision.

With his anger subdued, he brought up the map, checking it thoroughly until he found a red, blinking spot. _Not that far from..._ his thought was cut off as the spot disappeared. "But... but how?" His anger doubled. "This can't be happening!" He look at the last location, memorizing it. Then he turned on the intercom, " Ready an Airdramon, two Tyrannomon, and four Megadramon!" The Emperor got up from his seat and walk out the room. As angry as he was, he felt a little excited. After all, it's been a long time since he's been hunting.  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------"And that's it."  
  
Davis was, to say the least, speechless. Veemon, summed up what had just been said. "So let me get this straight, you're saying that there are a whole bunch of dimensions out there. In just about all of them there are versions of us." –Ken- nodded. "And most of the time, there's an Emperor, or as you know, a Kaiser. Most of the time the digidestined, or chosen as you call it, stop 'em." –Ken- nodded once more. "But sometimes, like in this world, the digidestined fail. In worlds like this, you" he pointed to –Ken- "try to stop yourself from killing more people by reforming or killing yourself. How am I doing so far?" –Ken- smirked "Pretty well." "Then there's only one thing I want to know, what's with them?" He was referring to the three digimon that accompanied –Ken-. "-Them-? -They- help me. -They're- my partners." Davis, who had been silent for a time, spoke, "Ok, saying your story is true, how'd you get here in the first place?"  
  
-Ken- held up his wrists, showing the two devices. "These are what I use too travel to other dimensions. They're also my Digivices for -Veemon- and -Stingmon- here. These are incredibly powerful and set so you need the password to use them. Davis nodded thoughtfully. '_So this is the guy that sent me that message.'_ Davis' mind wondered to last night...

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The Night Before  
  
The Chosen of Courage and Friendship didn't know whether or not to respond. After all, he still didn't know whether or not it was some sick game Ken had come up with. He didn't want to fall into a trap. He read the message, **'Hello.'** Davis was still in confusion over the course of action to take, but decided to answer with the thought that he had nothing left to lose.  
  
'Hi, I'm Davis. Who are you?'  
  
**'I know who you are. As for my identity, I can't tell you.'  
**  
Davis was automatically suspicious. 'Why not?'  
  
**Not important right now. How would you like to escape?  
  
**This got Davis' attention, 'Escape? How The Emperor has Veemon and my D3.'  
  
**On the Dark Ring there is a slight bump, it's very hard to find. Apply pressure on it and the opposite end and the ring will shatter. A little trick I found out. All you need is your D3. Can you get it?  
**  
Yeah. No problem.  
  
**Good. If you get it then you'll find that D-Terminal most useful. If you get to the entrance wait there. I'll send someone there to get you at 10 pm. Trust me, you know him when you see him.  
  
**Davis, for the first time in a long time, felt happiness and excitement that he had difficulty containing. He was getting out! He'd have his friend back! And the chances to pay the Emperor back for all he's done. There was just one thing he had to know, 'Who are you?'  
  
**That, I can't tell you. Trust me, when you see me you'll know why.  
**---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
_Well, he wasn't kidding on that one_. Davis silently observed. The Chosen looked directly into the eyes of the dimension traveler. He saw many things. One thing he did not see was false hold and deceit. Still, he had to be careful. If he let his guard down, who know what could happen. Best to play it safe. "I can't give you my trust yet." –Ken- shook his head, as if he suspected it, "I didn't expect you to. If you want to go your own way I won't hold it against you." He turned to leave, "But I'm going after Takeru, sense he's the only one I have a good location on. Wanna come with?" Davis considered this. He had intended on going the this resistance Meramon spoke of. But, He couldn't stand the thought of TK being in the same situation as he was. TK, despite their unresolved rivalry for Kari's heart, was still a friend. He made his decision without delay. "I'm with you. Don't know how much help I'll be but I'll try."  
  
-Ken- nodded "Alright. But we should leave this place. If I know the Kaiser, and I think I would, he'll be sending a search party." With nothing left to say, the two humans and their digimon left the area.


	4. Last Dinosaur

I don't own Digimon. There are somethings some people may recognize in this chapter. If you do, then give yourself a high 5.

Chapter 3-Last Dinosaur  
  
"What a beautiful day!" Davis Motomiya exclaimed as he stretched out. He, his partner, -Ken- and his digimon were currently camped by a cliff next to large waterfall. Davis was in a very good mood. This was the first day of his freedom! The day he had dreamed about for 3 years! And -Ken- was nice enough to give him new clothes, seeing as his old ones were in horrible condition. Davis wore a dark blue jean jacket with flame going across the arms and bottom of the jacket. His shirt and pants were black, and he wore light brown worker gloves. He wore the same shoes because they weren't that bad and -Ken- didn't have any extras. To finish it off the trademark goggles that Tai gave him sat snuggly on his head.

Breathing in a large amount of air, he looked around the area, admiring the view. Of course, a large black tower ruined his view. He grinded his teeth slightly. As eager as he was to destroy it, doing so would alert the Emperor of their location. Then he thought of something, something he needed Ken to answer. He turned around, yet –Ken- wasn't there. Walking over to the two Veemons, who were having some conversation, he asked, "Hey, any of you seen –Ken-?" –Veemon- answered, "He went scout the area by the waterfall with –Stingmon- ."  
  
Davis nodded, then left to find –Ken-. When he was gone Veemon continued, "So tell me more about this Magnamon." –Veemon- smirked. "Sure, see when Ken uses the Digimental of Miracles, I, or we, can become Magnamon. In that form, we become incredibly powerful. In this one world, me and this other digimon, Rapidmon, took out a Mega!" Veemon's eyes widened slightly "I'd love to become Magnamon. From what you said this guy is pretty strong." –Veemon- then grinned like a madman. "If you think that's something, let me tell you about a digimon called Imperialdramon..."

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At the bottom of the path, it didn't take long for Davis to find -Ken-. Of course, he didn't recognize him at first. He was on his way up the path with –Wormmon- in one hand, a bag over his shoulder, he wasn't wearing his shades and strangely he had spiky silver hair and red eyes now. Naturally, Davis questioned him about it. -Ken- answered, "My face draws too much attention. I needed a disguise. Call me Neo Saiba. I've been Digidestined for 2 years. And my partner is Rosemon." Davis shook his head, "All seems good, but make it five years. Since Ken sealed the gate to the real world no one can get in or out. Just say you saw Omnimon on the net if someone ask when you first saw a digimon."  
  
Davis then glanced at -Wormmon- for a moment. The green rookie had a few minor scrapes covering his body. "What happened to him?" "While I was gathering some food we got attacked, because two Snimon recognized me." "And -Wormmon- deleted them?" -Ken- shook his head, "No. I did." Looking over, -Ken- saw Davis's shocked expression. His reply was cold, "I had no choice. If I didn't intervene Wormmon would have been deleted instead." His eyes turned back to the road. "My digimon take priority over all else." Davis, however, wasn't shocked by Ken killing digimon. After all, he himself had ordered the death of digimon who willingly served the Emperor, like those Ogremon at Ken's Castle. No, he was shocked that Ken could destroy two champion level digimon by himself.  
  
Davis could see that he was blaming himself, and despite how odd he felt walking next to his sworn enemy, he offered some small comfort. "Listen, you shouldn't blame yourself for this. It's Ken's fault. I mean not your fault, but the Ken's..." he looked to see –Ken- smirking. "Oh, you know what I mean!" Ken chuckled a bit, Davis then joined him. "Thanks, Davis." "No problem."  
  
Davis was about to ask him something else when he heard his stomach growl. "Heh, um, do you have something to eat?" "In the bag." Davis took the bag -Ken- had over his shoulder, and searched thru it. "-Ken-, why is there nothing but cabbage in here?" "It's special cabbage." Davis raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean 'special'?" –Ken- shrugged and grabbed one of the heads of cabbage. Biting into it, he tried to determine the flavor, "Hmm, French toast," He broke it in half and handed the remaining half to Wormmon, which he gulped down quickly. "What are you waiting for?" –Ken- questioned. Davis picked up a head of cabbage, and looked at it oddly. Then he took a bite. Davis didn't know what was more odd, the fact that he was eating a vegetable, of the fact that the vegetable tasted like a warm, juicy steak. -Ken- saw the amazed look on Davis' face and grinned, "What did I tell ya. Special, huh?" Davis nodded and continued his meal.  
  
The way up was uneventful. Davis, after finding a popcorn-flavored cabbage, had asked about the other worlds out there. -Ken- gladly told him of some of the things he'd seen. About –Ken's- home world and some of the things he'd done. -Ken- was a Kaiser as well. On the verge on victory, he was reformed. They were having a good time, and Davis was willing to admit that he trusted him to some degree. It was then that Davis remembered what he wanted to ask- Ken-, "-Ken-, why is Ken the Emperor? How did he turn out this way?" -Ken- stop for a moment, then looked at the sky, "It's a number of reasons. In every world it's always a different story." –Ken- looked directly at Davis. "Are you sure you want to know? In most cases the more you know your enemy, the harder it may be to fight them." Davis merely nodded. "Well, in most cases it..." he was interrupted by a load roar. Exchanging glances, the two ran up the path to see the fierce some force of two Tyrannomon, and four Megadramon, with the Emperor riding an Airdramon.  
  
As Davis and -Ken- ran over to the two Veemon, the Emperor had chosen to speak. "Well, how many rats do we have gathered here today?" He moved his finger as he counted them, "One, two three, four..." as his finger moved to the -Wormmon- -Ken- cradled, he stammered. Regaining his composure, his eyes narrowed on -Ken-," And who are you?" he demanded. –Ken- smirked, " Ken Ichijouji." He replied matter-of-factly in a disguised voice. "Ha ha," the emperor replied sarcastically. Then, the Emperor gave the order "Destroy them!" The company dodged out of the way as four missiles and two balls of fire headed toward them. Davis and –Ken- didn't waste time. "Digi- Armor Energize!" "Golden Armor Energize!"  
  
Veemon Armor Digivolve to... Flamedramon, the fire of Courage!  
  
-Veemon- Golden Armor Digivolve to... -Magnamon-!  
  
The two-armor digimon stood for a few seconds, till –Magnamon- spoke, " I'll take the Megadramon. You want the Tyrannomon?" Flamedramon shrugged, "Fine with me." With that said, the two digimon charged the enemy. Taking to the air, Magnamon grabbed a missile fired by one for the Megadramon. The Megadramon fired another missile, but Magnamon saw it coming. "Magna Blast!" several compartments on Magnamon's armor opened up, and several beams of golden energy fired at the Megadramon. The beams showered him and the bomb. The bomb ignited, exploding the ultimate's arm. As the digimon screamed in pain, Magnamon charged to finish the job. The other three Megadramon got in the way, but three well-placed 'Magna Punches' removed interference. When he reached the wounded Megadramon, he shoved the missile he caught into his mouth, "Forgive me. Magna Blast!" The missile ignited, blowing his head off. As his remains disintegrated, Magnamon turned to the other Megadramon. "And then there was three."  
  
Meanwhile, on the ground. Flamedramon had just dodged a ball of fire. Sensing one of his opponents behind him, he performed a back flip, and watched as one of the Tyrannomon crashed into the other. Then he saw a dark spiral on the tail of a Tyrannomon. He took aim and fired his Fire Rocket. The blast connected and cracked the spiral. That was what he needed. He moved in closer, "Flame Fist!" this time the spiral did break. The Tyrannomon shook his head. "W...what happened?" he remembered going fishing with Hiwa when..." That human!" The Emperor lowered himself, "Yeah, that was me." The emperor pulled out a dark spiral, and through it at the newly freed Tyrannomon. The Tyrannomon won't have it, firing a blast to destroy it. "Fine, have it your way! Tyrannomon!" he called to the digimon fighting with Flamedramon. The enslaved digimon swatted Flamedramon away and ran to his master's side. "Teach this fool how traitors are deal with!" the two digimon grappled with each other. "Hiwa!" Tyrannomon shouted as he shoved him aside. "Why do you fight me?" Flamedramon came beside him "It's the dark spiral on his tail. It allows the emperor to control him."  
  
The Emperor grinned evilly, "It also allows me to do this! Tyrannomon, Dark Digivolve!" This was something no one expected. Even -Ken- was mildly surprised as gray and black armor covered the Tyrannomon's body.  
  
Tyrannomon dark Digivolve to... Metal Tyrannomon!

Metal Tyrannomon swung his hand, knocking both digimon back. Flamedramon didn't get up right away, but Tyrannomon did. He ran up to his friend, trying to reason with him. "Hiwa, this is madness! We have been friends since we were In-Training digimon! You must come to your senses!" Metal Tyrannomon wasn't listening. he slashed the other digimon deep across the chest. As the digimon fell back, Metal Tyrannomon moved in for the kill. He heard a whistling sound, but tuned it out, focusing on the the kill. He rose his large claw in the air. As he brought it down, something stopped it. It was a woman in black, red and green body suit with a red helmet that held his claw with both hands. She smirked at him, "Hey handsome. Wanna dance with me?" Metal Tyrannomon responded by swinging his other claw. -Rosemon- dodged out the way, back flipping to safety. "A rough one, huh? That's okay. I 'em rough, Rose Whip!" With that, she withdrew a long whip with thorns running down it.

While -Rosemon- dealt with Metal Tyrannomon, the Emperor held his digivice at -Rosemon-. "Let's see here, Rosemon, Flower digimon , attacks are Rose Whip and Rose Rapier. Level is..." The Emperor was silent for a time. 'It can't be.' he silently denied. "These worthless pieces of gutter trash have a Mega!" As powerful as the Emperor was, he could not take on a Mega. He glanced around the battlefield The second Megadramon had just been deleted by that golden digimon. And it looked like the third and fourth was next. Metal Tyrannomon wasn't doing so well agianst the newly arrived Mega. He HATED running away. But he hated dying even more.

"Airdramon, escaAAHHHH!" There was an intense, stinging pain on his back. Ken turned around to see a silver haired boy with a whip in his hand and eyes filled with silent hated and loathing. "You really should watch yourself more," the boy stated, "I could have killed you twice by now." Ken reached for his whip and attacked. (in this part, to avoid confusion , -Ken- will be called Neo) The whip wrapped around Neo's arm. Neo pulled the Emperor closer and attacked with his whip again, this time slashing his chest, causing Ken to collase. "You know what the thing about whips is?" Neo began as he walked closer, "After the initial blow the wound hurts like hell." With that said, Neo attacked again. This time, however, Ken was ready. Ken dodged the whip., and moved in to deliver an uppercut. Regaining his footing on the shaky Airdramon, Neo saw Ken was in fighting position, ready to strike. It took Neo a second to relieze that in most worlds, Ken took Tai Kwon Do_. 'I could just draw my sword'_, Neo thought humorously_, 'but why not humor myself?' _Throwing the two whips to the ground below, He assumed a stance not unlike Ken's. After trying to staring each other down, Ken charged Neo.

Glancing at all the fighting around him, Davis couldn't shake the helplessness he felt. Everyone but he and -Wormmon- were fighting. And Wormmon wasn't there because of injury. Flamedramon was helping Magnamon finish off the last two Megadramon. Rosemon had just destroyed Metal Tyrannomon's dark spiral,causing him to devolve. Even -Ken's- fighting himself on an Airdramon! Everyone's fighting but him! Davis had hated being on the sidelines before. But he could do nothing. He was only human At least that's what he thought before -Ken- had told him of his trip in the woods. Then, it hit him. _-Ken-! I could have him teach me!_ Davis looked back to the battle between the two -Kens-. As much as he hated to admit it, the Emperor was good. Luckily, -Ken- was better. As the Emperor showed signs of fatigue, -Ken- showed virtually none. Davis continued to look at the fight, hoping one day he'd be able to help.

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Back on the Airdramon, Neo just dodged a blow from Ken and countered with a leg sweep. As Ken fell on his back, Neo smirked, "Don't tell me that's all you can do." Ken gritted his teeth. This was a fight he couldn't win and he knew it. If he kept this up things would not end in his favor. He kicked Neo in the knee, causing the sliver haired boy to fall to one knee. This gave Ken the opportunity he needed. Hopping to his feet, he delivered a roundhouse kick to Neo's head, causing the silver haired boy to fall off the Airdramon. "Airdramon! Get me out of here!" The enslaved digimon did as told, taking to the air. As Airdramon rode off, Ken saw that Neo was caught by the golden digimon. _'I don't know who you are, but I'll have your head! I swear it!'_

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"You want me to go after him?" Magnamon asked as he set down Neo. "No, don't bother." Magnamon chuckled a bit, "You were careless. That's not like you." Neo shrugged as the golden armor digimon set him down, "I got carried away. No matter. It won't happen again." Neo, after gathering his whip, glanced at the two Tyrannomon. Running over, he asked what happen. Rosemon explained "This two are Hiei and Hiwa, as their human partners named them." Neo walked over to the fallen Tyrannomon and examined the wound. "This wound is to deep. He doesn't have long." Hiei didn't seem ready to accept this. "Lies! He will live!" he turned to Hiwa "You must live. We are the last of the Tyrannomon tribe. The rest are either dead or now serve that filty excuse for a human! That is as good as death!"

Hiwa took that time to speak, "That is enough, Hiei. Do not make this any harder. Even as I speak it gets harder to see. Please, tell Ai I'm sorry." with that said, Hiwa closed his eyes and his head fell. As Hiei roared in mourning, Davis came beside Neo. "Will he come back?" Neo whispered. Davis shook his head sadly. "I don't know. The control spires do something to the land, poison it. Look at the ground. It's almost black. I've heard of digimon being reformated but nothing's certain." he look the desintegrating body of Hiwa and sighed, "It's possible but unlikely."

Neo looked at the Tyrannomon. He was truly alone. Odds are he didn't know where his partner was. He's the last of his people, they rest having been enslaved or killed. And to be responsible for your friend's death...

Hiei began to walk away, "Where are you going?" Davis asked. The Tyrannomon half turned,"To File Island. If there is a chance to bring him back then I will find it." With that said, he continued on his way. The digimon were gathered around the two humans. Davis turned to Neo "What next?" Neo walked to the cliff and pointed at the base of the waterfall. "There is a tunnal there. it should lead us were I need to go." "And were is that?" "You'll find out." the two turned to the digimon. They devolved to the two Veemon and a Palmon. "Guys," Neo annouced, "time to go. With nothing left to say, the party made their way done the path, all of them thinking about the Tyrannomon.


	5. Training Day

I don't own digimon. Thanks to everyone who reviewed. I have already passed my expected number of reviews, zero. You people have fueled my drive to finish this story.  
  
Chapter 4-Training Day  
  
"I hate walking!" Davis exclaimed for the 3rd time. He and his party were currently walking in the cavern Ken discovered. And according to -Ken-, or Neo as he wanted to be called now, the path would continue for sometime. Neo, who was leading the party, turned to him, "Can't be helped. This is something we need to do." Neo reached into a bag and pulled something out. "Here, have some cabbage." Davis really hoped this was Pepsi- flavored, but alas, as he ate it he found out it was pizza flavored.  
  
It had been two days since they had entered the cavern after the battle with Ken. The days passed quickly, and during this days Davis noticed that Neo was prepared for this. He brought enough food and water to last for at least a week in a backpack and the bag. Davis asked him what was so special about this, but as expected, Neo didn't tell. He did trust Neo at this point. After all, if Neo wanted him dead he'd have no trouble killing either he or Veemon. And it's not like -Veemon- would follow a psychopath. But all the unanswered questions were getting on his nerves.  
  
He sighed again. He had no choice but to take Neo's word for it. That whatever is in here is worth over a two day walk. Still, that didn't change the fact that..."I hate walking."

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Ken Ichijouji, the Digimon Emperor continued to drum his fingers on his desk, trying to determine the course of action to take._ I lost. I lost to that boy. Me, the Digimon Emperor, lose to a mere boy!_ He didn't know why he called him a boy, seeing as how they seemed the same age.  
  
The Emperor felt disgust. He was disgusted with himself. How could the most powerful being in the digital world lose to a mere boy? The answer was simple._ I've gotten soft._ Upon retrospect, it wasn't a surprise. All those who posed a problem to him were nothing now. Without their leader, the digidestined had no direction to follow. The resistance, formidable as they were, only existed as play thing for him. He allowed them to exist. He could crush them at any time. He owned this world. It was his property. Everything went his way tell recently. Till that Davis boy escaped. But that wasn't the problem. No, he had help. And all signs pointed to that silver haired stranger. He was a worthy adversary indeed.  
  
He turned to a mug on the desk and concentrated. It took a full five minutes for the mug to float to him. When it reached his hand he throw it against the wall in anger. _How could I have gotten so weak! Three years ago I could move a Unimon with ease!_ Telekinesis was one of many powers bestowed upon him by the powers of darkness. He found it very useful with his dark rings. Three years ago he could have easily move that mug. Now it required concentration to the point of nausea? His skill at martial arts had decreased as well as his strength. His fight with the silver haired boy was completely one-sided. Sure he had gotten in a few hits. But the boy was playing with him, humoring him and they both knew it.  
  
Yes, this one did complicate things. He had extremely powerful digimon, and was skilled with whips and martial arts. And if Ken was had to guess, he was also skilled with the sword he didn't draw. Ken pressed the intercom button, "Send two Leomon to the main hall." A monotone 'yes' followed. Yes, the main hall would do perfectly. It was spacious and could withstand damage. One would think that this was madness, but he needed to get in shape. And if getting the crap kicked out of him by two Leomon helped, then so be it. He got up walked out the door. He didn't know who that boy was. He was a great threat, but next time they meet would be a different story. "Enjoy your last moments. Because as of this moment your days are numbered!"

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"Achooo!"  
  
This woke Davis up. Davis glanced over to Neo, who had just sneezed. "You OK?" he asked. Neo nodded his head. "Yeah, I'm fine. That was weird." He shrugged it off. Neo was sitting against the cavern wall, with a lit lamp and a book and pen in his hands. Davis walked over and sat beside him. "What are you writing?" Neo turned back to the book and continued writing, "It's a journal. I write about the world's I've been to and my experiences." "But only half of the pages are used. How many worlds have you been to?" Neo's eyes never left the book. "This is the third book Davis. And I've been to five worlds so far. Six including this one "_ The third book!_ "Oh, I see."  
  
Davis and Neo sat in silence for a time, tell Davis asked, "Listen, Neo. Could, could you teach me how to fight?" Neo looked at Davis as if he'd just grown a toe on his forehead. "Teach you how to fight?" Davis whispered as to not wake the digimon. "You see, I'm tired of sitting on the sidelines. Not being able to help Veemon. I want to fight beside him. He risks his life for me all the time. This time I want to do the same. I don't expect to take on any Megadramon often, but if possible, I want to help." Neo was silent. "I can understand if you say no." Neo pretended to consider. Because, unbeknownst to Davis, Neo had every intention of teaching him how to fight, whether he wanted to learn or not. This, however, made things far easier.  
  
"Ok, we start now." With that, he set the book back in his bag and stood. "What, now?" Davis questioned. "Yeah, now. No time like the present. Don't worry about the digimon. Veemon's already awake and my digimon sleep like rocks."  
  
Davis glanced at Veemon with slight embarrassment. "You heard?" Veemon nodded. "Every word. I don't want you in any danger Davish, but we both know you're too hard headed." Davis grinned, "Yeah that's true." Davis got up and walked over to Neo, and the first of many training sessions began.

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The leader of the resistance was not having a good day. Yolei's forces weren't doing so well. The Emperor's forces captured half of the city and, if things continue like this, they'd have the city in a few days. He ordered her to retreat two days ago. But having just read her report a few minutes ago, he and he's second in command had come with the assessment that she was too damn stubborn for her own good. He was currently on has way to the garage with digimon partner. No matter what she said, she was coming back. There wasn't a chance in hell he was going leave his girlfriend to die. Once he hopped on his motorcycle, his second in command ran up to him. He was out of breath and holding a tape.  
  
"Sir, our cameras picked up something you might want to see." As eager as the leader was to leave, his second in command wasn't one to waste time. "Ok, but after this I'm gone." With that said, he ordered his partner to stay with the bike and got off. He then walked to the closest VCR, which was in his room. Plopping down on his bed, the second in command put the tape in. After a bit of static, the screen cleared up to show a battle.  
  
Somethings the leader didn't recognize, like the golden digimon and a female digimon. Somethings he did, like the Emperor and two old friends. "Is that Davis?" the leader whispered. he second in command nodded. "Must be. I'd know those goggles anywhere. And I'm sure that's Flamedramon. They must have escaped." The leader turned to him, "But how?" The second in command fast-forwarded the tape to see a silver haired boy fighting the Emperor. "I'm guessing he had a hand in it. You know him?" The leader shook him head. "Nope. But I like him already. Look at this. He's kicking the Emperor's ass."  
  
"Yeah, but this is what creeps me out." He fast-forwarded to the point where Davis, the silver haired boy, and several digimon gathered on the cliff. Then the unknown boy looked up, directly at the camera, and the second in command paused it. "It's like his knew the camera was there. And look at the digimon there. He's got three! I've heard of people having more than one partner, but he's got a Veemon and a Wormmon! Both are extremely rare. And I checked the digimon database. That female digimon is Rosemon, a mega level." The leader looked at his second in command, "What about the golden one?" The second in command sighed, "Hardly anything. His name is Magnamon. On the tape, the silver haired guy pulled out something. It looked like a digiegg, expect it was gold."  
  
The leader rubbed his chin. "Who is this guy?" he wondered aloud. "That's what I'd like to know." The two sat there for a time, till the leader rose from his seat. "Send an agent after this guy. This one's smart, so send someone small, like a Thundermon. He might try to contact us so be ready." The second in command nodded, "Do you think we can trust him?" The leader nodded. "Davis does. And he's always been a good judge of character." The leader turned to leave. "Don't rack your brain trying to figure this out. At least, not yet. As for me, I'm going to get Yolei." He opened the door and looked at the second in command, "The troops are pretty down in moral. Run that tape; show them that others are still fighting. And edit a few things of course. Hold down the fort till I return."  
  
The second in command nodded as his leader left. His eyes turned back to the tape. The boy seemed so familiar, yet he didn't know why. Staring into the eyes of the silver hair figure, he asked, "Who are you?"


	6. Memories, Part 1

I don't own digimon. Everything is going as I planned it so far, and I see where I want this to go. All I have to do is write it. My thanks to those who reviewed!

Chapter 5-Memories, Part 1

It had been four days since the battle by the waterfall, and Neo and party were still walking. Davis, however, didn't complain. This was a good way to get exercise, and from what Neo had said, he needed it. During the moments in between, when the party of five rested, Neo would train Davis. Davis had quick reflexes and was pretty fast. Both traits Neo expected of a soccer player. Even better that he was a quick learner. He wasn't very far, but Davis absorbed information quickly. Davis discovered many things about fighting. For example, always watch you opponent's movements. Davis also learned of the way Neo fought. Despite the fact he held back for obvious reasons, Davis could tell that Neo was graceful and merciless in combat. Davis remembered the first night the training began. Neo drew his sword handed it to Davis, telling the chosen of Courage and Friendship to attack him. Davis didn't want to harm the other boy, but attacked anyway, convinced that he knew what he was doing. As he charged him, Neo disarmed him and knocked him to his feet faster than he could blink. He than pointed out every flaw Davis performed like he was a drill sergeant.

Davis was currently enjoying a bottle of water when he saw a strange blue light ahead. He questioned Neo about it, and Neo simply replied, "That's our destination." not saying anymore. They continued walking till they reached the blue light. It appeared to be a wall of some sort. Neo entered without hesitation, as well as his digimon. Davis and Veemon looked at each other, then shrugged, and entered the wall of light. He could see on other side that Neo was waiting for him. He saw that Neo 's hair was the normal indigo blue that he originally had. Before Davis could ask about it, Neo spoke. "That wall is a barrier that removes any disguises and protects this place from those with negative intentions."  
  
Davis looked around the area. From what he could see the area was a large circle with a hole in the middle with several staircases leading down. Davis and Veemon walked to the edge and looked below to see a large jungle like area. "What is this place?" Veemon asked. An elderly voice answered, "This is the Guardian's Sanctuary." The two turned around to see an old man in red robes with a cane. The old man walked over to Neo, who bowed in respect. The old man rubbed his chin, "Hmmm, there's more to you than meets the eye, isn't there?"  
  
Neo nodded, "As perceptive as ever, Gennai. I'm not the Ken of this world. To make a long story short I am from another dimension. I'm here to make sure that certain wrongs are made right."  
  
The old man, Gennai as Neo called him, seemed to consider his words. "Dimension travel, huh? That would account for the disturbance I felt a few days ago. So, what are you doing here, if I may ask?"  
  
Neo seemed slightly disturbed by something, "I... I need to speak to the Phoenix." He said with reluctance.  
  
Gennai glanced at Davis, who had a perplexed look on his face. Without turning, he asked, "Do you think he'll listen?"  
  
Neo sighed in exasperation, "He'll have to. This world's too far-gone. I just wish it didn't have to be him."  
  
The old man nodded, "All right, follow me." The old man led them down the closet staircase. During the way down Davis asked Neo a question, "So, who's the old guy?" Neo was slightly irritated by the term 'old guy', "That's Gennai. He aided the original chosen. He also aided in the creation of the crest and tags. Not much else is known about him." "And why are we here?" "You'll find out."  
  
Davis didn't bother asking anymore, knowing he wouldn't get his answer. When they reached the bottom of the stair's Davis looked around the small jungle. The place was indeed beautiful. It held a very calmed atmosphere that one could drown in without notice. He spared a glance at Neo to see the other boy was tense, as were his digimon. Whatever was going to happen they were not looking forward to it. This made him nervous. Very nervous.  
  
Gennai suddenly stopped in front of a stone podium. The podium had five large gems imbedded in it. Four were facing the directions on a compass, and one was in the middle. The one facing north was green, south was orange, east was white, west was blue, and the center was purple. Gennai placed his palm on the southern gem and closed his eyes, as if listening to someone. After a few minutes Gennai took him hand from the gem. "He'll speak with you." With those words, the gem glowed and expanded, encompassing all things around it. Veemon, who had closed his eyes out of fright of the orange sphere, opened his eyes to see that almost every thing around them, the floor above them, the podium, even the small jungle, had disappeared. All that was left was the group. They were standing on one of many large stone platforms, and the area was surrounded by an orange and blue glow.  
  
It didn't take long for the group to see a large bird. This, however, was no ordinary bird. The bird was a huge phoenix. It covered a majority of the area. It's feathers were red, and looked as if they were being consumed by flames. Davis and Veemon had never seen such a creature. Just one of his eyes was bigger than any of them! From what Davis could tell, he did not look happy.  
  
The phoenix's voice boomed, "What business have you called me for Gennai? My power grows weaker day by day. I haven't the time to waste it on trivial matters!"  
  
Gennai seemingly unnerved, stepped on a smaller stone platform. The platform rose closer to the phoenix as he answered. "I assure that this is anything but a trivial matter." he turned to Neo. "Go on son."  
  
Neo jumped a jump thought impossible, landing a great distance away from Davis on a large platform just in front of the phoenix. It took mere seconds for the phoenix to recognize him. **"YOU!"** he shouted as he fired a blast of white-hot fire at Neo. Neo sighed as he braced himself. Holding up his hand, a purple barrier appeared in front of him, blocking the flames. After sliding Neo back a few feet, the flames dispersed, leaving Neo unharmed. Davis and Veemon's respective mouths dropped in disbelief. Just when he thought he had Neo figured out he does something like this. The phoenix seemed just as surprised as Davis. "The essence of Kindness!?! But how?"  
  
Neo regarded the phoenix coolly. "It's a case of mistaken identity, Zhuqiaomon. I'd rather not explain everything so to make things quicker you'll have to probe my mind."  
  
Zhuqiaomon considered this course of action. How could the Emperor have known who he was? Or of his ability to look into his mind? It could be a trap, but that was unlikely. Very few have the mental power to overcome him. Maybe it's as he said? _The only way to find out is to have a look. If I don't like what I see I'll erase his mind._ His course set, the phoenix digimon dived into Neo's mind.  
  
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The phoenix digimon found himself in nothing but darkness. Everywhere he looked was surrounded by darkness. That is, until he noticed something small flick into existence. Upon closer inspection, he found it was a human baby. The area around the baby expanded somewhat, showing three people gathered around the baby, a man, a woman, who was holding the child, and a small boy around 3 or 4 years old. From what Zhuqiaomon could tell, the four figures were in a hospital. He listened as the woman began to speak.  
  
"Oh dear. What should we name him?" the woman began. The man responded, "How about Kage? That was my father's name."  
  
"Kage Ichijouji." The woman said aloud. "No, that doesn't sound right. Kenta, maybe?"  
  
The man shook his head immediately, "That doesn't sound right either. Kenneth?"  
  
The little boy pulled on the pants leg the man, trying to get his attention. "How about Ken?" the boy suggested. The two adults considered for a moment. "Hmm, Ken Ichijouji." The man began, "Yes, that's perfect!" The woman nodded as she smiled at the boy. "Yes. That's a wonderful name." The boy beamed with pride because his suggestion was chosen. The man picked up the boy and held him closer to the baby. "Osamu, this is your brother, Ken."  
  
_This is getting me nowhere._ The digimon decided. He fast-forwarded a bit, finding himself surrounded by buildings, not that it mattered. This were just memories. He looked down to see two cars wrecked into one another, with swarms of police officers about. He listened a police officer was talking to another.  
  
"So what happened?" the first officer asked. The second one sighed sadly. "Some damn kids were playing in the street. The blue car, driven by some drunken idiot, swerved outta the way and hit another car. The other car had four people in it. Out of all of them, only one survived." The second pointed over to a small child with dark hair. "That's the one. The kid's not physically harmed. But he hasn't said a word. He's just staring into space. He's pretty shaken up." The first officer snorted. "That doesn't accurately describe this one. What's his name?" The second officer looked at a clipboard, "Ken Ichijouji."  
  
The first officer walked over and knelt to the young Ken. "Hey little guy. You OK?" Ken looked at the officer, then at the police officers putting the mangled bodies of his family into body bags. His lip began to quiver a bit, till his entire body began to shake with fear. Then, the small boy let out a heart-breaking scream that hit the Phoenix digimon at the core.  
  
The digimon found himself unable to watch the scene any longer, and sped ahead another point in -Ken's- memories. The next scene was one Zhuqiaomon was all too familiar with. -Ken-, dressed as the emperor, was causing chaos to all those around him. He was standing on an Airdramon as he watched a city burned to the ground, all the while laughing hysterically The previous rage Zhuqiaomon had reappeared, and he was one step from making -Ken- a vegetable. However, one thing the digimon learned as Keeper of Courage and Friendship was patience. Deciding to give the human one more chance, he sped to another point in –Ken's- memories.

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I don't think mentioned who the keepers of the other crests were. Just that Azolongmon( Don't think I spelled that right) was the keeper of Light and Hope. So I figure 'Hey, I'll make Zhuqiaomon the Keeper of Courage and Friendship!' That way, It works with the what I have planned for this.


	7. Memories, Part 2

I don't own digimon.  
  
Chapter 6- Memories, part 2  
  
This next memory Zhuqiaomon saw filled him with joy and confusion at the same time. It showed the emperor on his knees being bound by a golden rope formed by two armor digimon. In front of him were the new digidestined. A brown haired girl, the chosen of light as Zhuqiaomon recalled, walked up to the emperor and knelt beside him. The girl's hands started to glow as she lifted them to the emperor's face. 'The essence of Light?' The phoenix digimon knew what that meant, and he loved it. It was the perfect punishment. Why kill him when you can make him experience all the pain he caused others?  
  
The Emperor naturally resisted, but the girl seized his face quickly. The light surrounding the girl's hand seemed to burn the Emperor's flesh as if it were fire, yet even as the tyrant screamed in pain, the girl did not release her grip. The screaming died, as did the resistance, showing that it worked. The emperor was trapped in an endless cycle of the pain he caused others. The pain was so intense that he was numb with it.  
  
However, a few things confused him. The first was the fact that this Emperor was about 13 years old. That's how old he was 3 years ago. The second was the fact that the girl had the essence of Light. He would have known if Azulongmon had given it up. And lastly, he had just witnessed the Emperor's defeat, yet he was still power and had been for 3 years. All this observations added up to a simple, yet hard to believe conclusion. _'He's from another world!_' This assessment only raised more questions. How did he get here? What did he want? It took a second to realize that he was in the very place were he could get answers. Thus he began searching. He found what he was looking for when the he saw the boy was in the domain of Azulongmon.  
  
"Tell me, why do you wish to take this course of action?" the dragon digimon asked.  
  
"I have no other place to go. My family's dead, I'm not wanted in the Digital World, and I have no home in the real world." –Ken- replied with deep regret and sadness.  
  
"Why not stay with the Motomiya family?" the dragon asked.  
  
-Ken- shifted nervously, "It...would be too awkward. They won't admit it, but I know they blame me for Daisuke's death. Everyone except Miyako, Hikari and Veemon does. Not that I blame them. Miyako would take me in. I know how she feels about me, but as much as I want to, I can't accept her feelings. It's not helpful for either of us."  
  
The boy looked up, staring into the eyes of the dragon with nothing but pleading look on his face, "Please, Azulongmon, there's nothing left for me. MaloMyotismon has been defeated. And I doubt the Chosen will need my help should anything happen."  
  
The Keeper of Light and Hope seemed to consider for a moment, before nodding, "Alright, I will give you a Digicore. But I don't see how it will help you travel trough dimensions."  
  
-Ken- smiled as if he hadn't smiled in days, "Thank you Azulongmon. That's were these come in.," he said as he held up his wrists to show two large devices. One was gray and the other was dark blue. "This was a pet project I worked on for a while. These use to be D3's till I made some alterations. They operate on the same principle as a D3 does as it opens a Digi Gate. But I was able to expand on that so I can travel to different dimensions. The problems are that it's completely random where I go, which isn't much of a problem, and that I need a bigger power source. Even combining the power of two wouldn't help."  
  
"And that's why you need a Digicore. But, where did you get the other D3?"  
  
-Ken- smiled nostalgically, "Daisuke gave it to me before he died. This was his final gift to me. Thanks to him, I might be able to find what I'm looking for."  
  
"And what is that?"  
  
-Ken- was silent for a time, "A place to belong."  
  
_'That explains it.'_ the phoenix thought. Satisfied with his answers, the digimon thought of leaving. But for the first time in a long time, curiosity got the better of him. Here was a being from another world! How could he pass up the chance to find out what else this boy has done? Besides, it's no guarantee that the boy's intentions are noble. He sped to another point in –Ken's- memories. He decided to stop at certain point, when –Ken- was about to open the gate. -Ken- was dressed as he was now, except he appeared slightly younger than he was now by 2 years. He was at the base of a waterfall, and all the new and old Digidestined were gathered around him. Two of them walked up to him and clasped his hand. Upon closer inspection Zhuqiaomon saw that it was the new chosen of Courage and another Ken. (This Ken will be marked with )  
  
Ken was the one who started, "I don't know if we can thank you enough. If it weren't for you, the Dark Masters would have won."  
  
-Ken- shook his head, "You don't need to thank me. I only did the right thing."  
  
Davis choose then to speak, "Right thing or not, we owe ya!" He pulled something out of a bag on his shoulder, a golden digiegg. "Here ya go." -Ken- was shocked, "I can't take this."  
  
Davis quickly cut him off, "We won't be needing it anytime soon. You get more use out of it then we will."  
  
-Ken- took the Digiegg of Miracles in his hand stared at it for a time. Then he said, "Alright, I'll take it." and reluctanly put it in his bag. Turning to his partners, a Wormmon and a Veemon, -Ken- asked, "You guys ready?" The two rookies nodded their heads. The dimension traveler pulled a glowing white sphere out of his bag. He threw it in the air and pointed his two digivices at it, absorbing the power the sphere contained. He then pointed the two devices to the area surrounding the waterfall. Two beams shot from the digivices and began merging into one. As the beams merged, a bright light flashed throughout the area, forcing many to cover their eyes, when the light dead down a portal stood in the light's place, earning a few collective gasps. The human and two digimon turned to the digidestined and said thier goodbyes. They then walked into the portal, entering another world.

Very intresting.' was all Zhuqiaomon could think. He honestly didn't know what to make of the boy. He didn't seem to have any negative intentions, If he had, the barrier would have killed him. Some part of him still didn't trust the boy. Maybe it was that part of him that didn't trust humans. Deciding to have one more look, he sped to another point in the Emperor's, no, former Emperor's mind.

Stopping at random once more, the Keeper of Courage and Friendship looked on to see a dying young woman, around 17, the former Emperor's arms. -Ken- looked as he does now, meaning this didn't happen to long ago. The girl was bleeding a great deal, and was clutching a sword in her hand. When she drew her final breath, -Ken- picked up the sword and turned to a tall Dragon Man digimon. -Ken- point a digivice at the digimon, and the digimon grew far large in size.

_'Hmmm, Imperialdramon_.' Zhuqiaomon had heard stories of the legendary digimon, and had seen one himself, once upon a time. To see one agian was truly a shock. The ancient dragon digimon absorbed -Ken- into it's compartment, and took off till they were infront of a castle. The dragon mode changed into fighter mode and formed a large cannon in it's hands. He charged up it's ultimate attack, and fired, instantly destroying the castle.

The phoenix digimon didn't know what to make of the sence. Obviously whoever was in that castle was not the the former emperor's favor. This boy was indeed an enigma, causing confusion everywhere he went. This much was obvious. But one must look at the facts. Dispite how confusing he made things, he had the essense of Kindness. One with evil intentions couldn't possibly hope to use it at all, let alone block his attack. Not to mention he possessed the power of Imperialdramon. If he wanted to enslave anyone he would have any trouble doing it with such a digimon at his command.

With nothing left to ask, the phoenix digimon exited the boy's mind. It took a while to adjust to leaving a mind, as it always does. When he was adjusted to his surrounding, he heared Neo say, "Did you find what you needed?"

"No," the digimon admitted. There was something he forgot. "Why did you come here?"

The dimension traveler simply answered, "The essence of Courage."


	8. Heart of Fire

I don't own digimon.  
  
Chapter 7- Heart of Fire  
  
The Digimon Emperor tried desperately to stay on his feet as he blinked out the sweat he accumulated. Convincing himself that he didn't need rest, he ordered the two Leomon to attack him once more. The two digimon obeyed, charging at their master. The first Leomon attacked from behind. The emperor could tell as he dodged the blow that he was being herded to the left. He found he was correct as the other Leomon fired his Fist of the Beast King attack. The blast brushed pass him, grazing the left side of his abdomen. The tyrant fell to one knee, clutching his side. The two digimon stopped immediately thanks to Ken's orders not to attack if he were down. To be killed by his own servants was not how he wanted to go.  
  
He checked his side. It was a serious burn, but he tried to ignore it. He looked directly at the Leomon, picturing the silver haired stranger's face on both their faces. Driven by his unbreakable obsession to kill him, he once again ordered the two digimon to attack.

-----------------------------

Zhuqiaomon looked at Neo in disbelief. "Excuse me?"  
  
"I need the essence of Courage." Neo replied simply.  
  
The phoenix glared at Neo, "I heard you. I sense the essence of Kindness in you." The digimon stopped for a second as if to concentrate. "As well as that of Sincerity!" How did you come across them?"  
  
"As you know I am the chosen of Kindness. That needs no explanation. As for Sincerity..." The dimension traveler looked pained as he withdrew his sword. With both hands he held it up to the digimon. "This sword belonged to someone very dear to me. They left the essence in the sword."  
  
The phoenix digimon nodded in understanding. "And what need do you have for the essence of Courage? Not only can you not use it. Even if you could you would have to relinquish Kindness, else wise the two powers would kill you."  
  
The chosen's eyebrow raised slightly surprised that he hadn't noticed. "Who said it was for me?" he said as he gestured to the long forgotten(to him anyway) Davis.  
  
The Keeper noticed him for the first time. A red aura surrounded Davis, and before he could protest, he was mentally summoned by the Phoenix. The chosen of Courage and Friendship looked around in confusion. One second, he was standing beside Veemon; listening to things he didn't understand. The next, he was standing beside Ken, looking at a very large bird.  
  
The 'large bird' spoke, "So this is the newest child representing the power I guard." He shook his head. "I'm not impressed."  
  
Davis seemed very displeased by his words, _'At least I'm not a giant turkey.'_ "Ya know, I didn't exactly ask to become digidestined." He replied instead. _'Of course, I didn't turn it down either.'  
  
_The Keeper chuckled at Davis' words, "No, you didn't." Zhuqiaomon addressed Neo, "I'm to assume it is for him?" The boy nodded. "I know what you might be thinking. This world's been corrupt for 3 years. I know what will happen to you, but it's a risk that must be taken for the greater good."  
  
Zhuqiaomon nodded once more. "You are correct. I assume you know what must be done? What the boy must do?" Neo nodded with a sorrowful expression on his face. "Very well. Say what you must to him."  
  
Neo turned to Davis, who asked, "Neo no, -Ken-, what the hell is going on?"  
  
"Zhuqiaomon will explain everything. All I can say is that if you accept what awaits you; don't trust what your eyes see. That and believe in that heart of yours." The dimension traveler turned to walk away. As he reached the edge of the platform, he turned his head to look at Davis. "When the test is over, I answer any question you ask." With that said, he preformed his impossibly long jump, landing beside Veemon.  
  
Before Davis could ponder those words, Zhuqiaomon spoke, "Davis Motomiya. You, the new child of Courage and Friendship, have been chosen to participate in a test. If you pass it you will gain a power few can surpass. Do you accept?"  
  
Davis rubbed his head in order to clam himself. What kind of test did he have in mind? The chosen highly doubted that he'd be taking anything like the test back home. Whatever this test was, he had a feeling he wasn't going to like it. But if he could command such a power, he could finally pay the Emperor back for all he's done...  
  
_'NO!'_ He mentally screamed._ 'I can't abuse a power like that for revenge! That would make me no better than Ken!'_ He looked up at the Keeper of Courage and Friendship, his eyes burning with resolve and determination. "I can take whatever you throw and more! Bring on this test!"  
  
The phoenix nodded in satisfaction. "Very well." He put a black barrier around the large platform. Davis went up and tapped the barrier, only to receive a mild electric shock. Davis instantly pulled his hand back, shaking his hand to banish the numbness he felt. "Well that was stupid." He grumbled. "What's that for?" he asked, pointing at the barrier with his thumb.  
  
"To make sure no one sees or tries to help."  
  
"Oh, joy." The digidestined replied dryly. "So are we going to this or not?"  
  
Instead of replying, the phoenix attacked. The fire that resulted was not aimed at Davis, but directly in front of him. The flame took shape, forming a very familiar digimon. The chosen of Courage and Friendship rubbed his eyes in confusion. "But... that can't be! Flamedramon!?!"  
  
It was indeed Flamedramon. The Armor digimon looked at him as if he were an enemy. Pointing a claw directly at him, Flamedramon declared, "Emperor! I'll make you pay for what you've done! You will not get away with murdering my friends!"  
  
The words cut Davis like one thousand knives. He took a good look at himself, then looking to the ground at a piece of shattered glass. Everything about him looked like the emperor! Right down to the wild indigo hair and gold and violet shades! Then something hit him. 'Were did shattered glass come from?' He looked to see he was no longer on the large platform, but in a ruin room he recognized from Ken's castle. He also notice the bodies of his friends shatter across the floor, each of them lying in a pool of blood. The very site made bile rise in his throat, but he forced it down. He noticed someone was missing; before he could ponder this, he felt something hit his head. It felt small, like a drop of water. A dreadful fear unlike any other gripped him. He slowly looked up, afraid to confirm his fear but unable to do other wise.  
  
He nearly screamed in horror at the site. Kari was there, being hung by a whip. She had a deep gash in her stomach. Davis looked at his hands. Both were completely covered in blood. He immediately vomited, overwhelmed by the site and the foul smell of blood. _'But it doesn't make sense! My...my friends are still alive!'_ After another look at the site, however, he wasn't so sure. They were all here. And there was so much blood. Even if he hadn't seen them in three years, they where like family. To see them all dead and feel so responsible for it...

"This is too much." He whispered in between tears. "I can't handle this!" Before he could speak more, Flamedramon kicked his in the stomach. "If you think that will spark compassion, think again!" Flamedramon grabbed 'The Emperor' by the neck. He shoved him into the wall, and 'The Emperor' felt a power electrical surge course throw his body. He didn't resist nor did he scream. He looked into the eyes of the anger driven digimon as he said, "Yes! Suffer! You will pay for all you've done!" 'The Emperor closed his eyes, wishing for a release from the hellish nightmare.  
  
---------------------------------------

"Davis Motomiya! Wake up this instant!"  
  
Davis' head shot up immediately, hitting something on the way. As he clutched his head in pain, he heard a great deal of laughter. He took a good look around. He was in a classroom full of children! He searched the room, looking for someone. Finally, his eyes rested on Kari, who was currently giggling at something. What it was, he didn't care._ 'She's hear.'_ He breathed a sigh of relief. He had such a horrible nightmare. He hardly remembered it, but one part he remembered with certainty, seeing Kari being hung by some rope. Then there was the guy in the blue suit and red armor. That was something he did not want to remember. The boy shook his head to clear it._ 'Calm down Davis! It was just some bad dream! It's not like your in some bad fan fic or something!'_ he convinced.

Kari, still giggling, pointed at something. He saw what it was when he turned around. His old Math teacher, Mr. Fujimiya, was rubbing his chin while looking down at Davis with a scolding look on his face. "I'm glad you find my class so enjoy Mr. Motomiya."  
  
Davis' infamous sarcasm kicked in, "Well what can I say? A talent like yours, it's a wonder we all haven't graduated yet." This sent the class in an uproar, and made the teacher more than a little upset.

"And why is it that I find you asleep in my classroom?"

"Well ya see, I haven't been feeling so well since yesterday. I think it's 'cause of that soccer ball that hit my head." he said while rubbing his scalp.

"And who's fault is that?"

"It's not my fault they wanted to play soccer indoors."

The teacher sighed at the obvious lie."Alright. Go see the nurse. Kari, you go with him. Make sure he doesn't skip out."  
  
Kari stood from her seat. And walked over to Davis, smiling slightly. "Ready to go?"  
  
Davis grinned. "Always."  
  
The two walked into the hall and began the trek to the nurse's office. He took a good look at Kari. Something was wrong, yet he could put a finger on what it was._ 'I see her everyday!'_ he mentally yelled, _'So why does it feel like I haven't seen her in such a long time?'  
_  
Deciding to take he mind off of other things, he tried to start some conversation. "So Kari, you going to the soccer game this weekend?"

"Of course! I heard the other school has some star player. What was his name?"

"Hmm, I think his name was Ken. I'd like to see what he can do. He might be good."

Kari smirked, "But no match for you?"

Davis laughed, "Of course not! They don't call me the Dragon of Odaiba for nothing!"

"They don't call you that at all Davis."

"They will soon enough. It's only a matter of time." The girl chuckled.

"Well, I guess if you believe in your heart and try your best, then they will."

The two stopped talking shortly after. Mainly because Davis was deep in thought. He recognized so many things that they just said, but how? As he reached the door way to the nurse's office he finally realized. Shaking his head, he muttered, "This is wrong."  
  
Kari, who was standing behind him, asked, "What's wrong?"  
  
"You are. You, this place, everything. This is some kind of trick. I'm not at school. I haven't been for three years." He pointed a finger at Kari and narrowed his eyes in suspicion "What's going on here?"  
  
Kari smiled, "This is an illusion created by your deepest desire, to be home again and with you friends. Zhuqiaomon's domain is a place were a strong will can accomplice great things."  
  
Davis nodded at the information. Then, he punched Kari as hard as he could, knocking the girl to the ground. "And why the hell didn't you tell me about that damn test -Ken-!" Davis demanded.  
  
'Kari' chuckled as 'she' rose to her feet. Light surrounded her body and as it clear, -Ken- was in her place. "So you figured it out, huh? Not much of a surprise when one thinks about it."  
  
"Answer the question -Ken-! I know you know what I saw!"  
  
-Ken's- eyes became cold and serious, as was his voice. "I didn't know from the start what Zhuqiaomon planned. Only that it would test you both mentally and physically. Like the dimensions, the tests are always different. As similar as you are, no one Davis is like any of the others. They've all been though different life experiences. The test prays on your worst fear and exploits it as much as possible. Besides, I do believe you were given the chance to decline."  
  
The chosen was about to say something, but –Ken- was right. "I know I had the chance to quit. But..." He lent against the wall, "It just hurt so much." Ken joined him against the wall. "I know. I doubt any words would have helped you for this."  
  
Davis gave a humorless chuckle. "Ya got that right."  
  
Before anything else could be said, the mental world began to get darker. Davis heard Ken swear, "Dammit, dammit, dammit! Davis, you have to leave here! That fake Flamedramon is very real!" He pointed to a door at the end of the hall. "That's the exit! If you don't leave here the Flamedramon will kill you!" With that said, -Ken- disappeared.  
  
Not begin needed to be told twice, Davis ran as fast as his legs could take him. The world got darker by the second, and it got harder to breath, but he pressed on. Finally, as he reached the door, the world was almost black, save for a window closet to him. He remembered the last day he was at school. He and Kari looked out that window and confessed their dreams to each other. She told him she wanted to be a teacher, which didn't really surprise he. And he told her his. Well, one of his. his dream to running a noodle cart. She was the only one who didn't laugh at him. He loved and cherished that memory. With one last look at the fading world, Davis exited the door... -------------------------------------------------------- ...Only to wake up to a world of pain. 'Still in the emperor get-up, still being choked by a fake Flamedramon, and still against this damn electric barrier!' Davis kicked the Flamedramon in the stomach, causing the fake armor digimon to drop his prey. Distancing himself from the digimon, Davis struggling to regain his breath. His back felt like it was on fire, he could barely move his arms because of the numbness, and he was facing a crazed digimon that resembled his partner, but else wise he was fine.  
  
The armor digimon slowly walked over to Davis, flashing a malevolent grin, "So you've got some fight in you? Good. I'll enjoy killing this way."  
  
All doubts about whether this being his friend were banished with those words. Veemon would never take enjoyment in killing. With the last of the numbness dissipating, he charged for the fake. A big mistake. Flamedramon dodged every blow, and countered with double the force. Dodging the last blow, Flamedramon grabbed Davis' arm and threw him across the room. As the digidestined rose to his feet, Flamedramon mocked, "Is that all that mighty digimon Emperor can do? I'm disappointed." The digimon held up both claws, both glowing with an attack Davis had seen far too many times to mistake. "But I'm not surprised. Fire Rocket!"  
  
A wave of fire unlike anything Davis had ever seen washed over him, engulfing him in flame. As he fell to the floor, he began to think. 'Is this it? Is this really how it's going to end?' Tears fell from his eyes, which were immediately evaporated. 'Cody, TK, Yolei, Kari, I'm sorry. Looks like it's over for me. –Ken-, I hope you take care of things.' With those thoughts, he surrendered to the flames...  
  
That is, until –Ken's- words rung thought his head.  
  
Believe in that heart of yours.  
  
He began to open his eyes  
  
Zhuqiaomon's domain is a place were a strong will can accomplice great things  
  
it was hard to stand at first, but slowly, he was on his feet. He saw –Ken- in his mind, screaming,  
  
Idiot! You've had what you needed all along! Now use it, dammit!  
  
It took a second for the fake Flamedramon to notice Davis. "Persistent aren't we?" he frown.  
  
Davis chuckled, "Sorry pal. But I've come to far to let it end like this!" With that declaration, the flame surrounding Davis engulfed the area. The fake bodies, the room they were in, and the Emperor outfit, were consumed by the flames like paper. When the flame resided, all that was left was the fake Flamedramon, Davis, and a wild flame hovering in front of him. They were back on the platform, and Davis was in his own attire, not a scratch on him. The flame in front of Davis began to circle around him, as if scanning him.  
  
Unbeknownst to them, Zhuqiaomon was watching. 'So, you have succeed it obtaining the essence of Courage. But to obtain it, and to use it effectively are two different things.  
  
The Fake Flamedramon seemed very confused. "I don't know what trickery this is, but I will end it! Fire Rocket!"  
  
The blast of fire flew straight at Davis. Davis, being taken off guard, raised his hands in defense. The flames did not him, however, as a large shield with the crest of Courage on it defended him. 'What the...' before he could finish the thought, he noticed the flame that circled him was gone. It did take long for Davis to figure it out. Concentrating, Davis made the shield turned back into flame. He moved to touch it, finding that it didn't burn. In fact, it made him feel better. He concentrated once more, this time making a weapon. The flame grew and wrapped around his arms to form to large, oversized gauntlets. It was odd, to say the least, that they felt like nothing.  
  
He took a good look at the gauntlets. Both were dark red, orange, and the gold, embedded with the crest on Courage. After making a few experimental swings, he took a look at Flamedramon and grinned. The Chosen of Courage and Friendship charged with speed not possible in an ordinary human, catching the digimon off guard. Davis' fist slammed into Flamedramon's stomach. The digimon flew into the electric barrier and was introduced to a similar treatment he gave Davis earlier. Luckily Davis was far more forgiving, not pinning the digimon against the wall.  
  
But he had the to taunt him. "So how's it feel to be on the other end of the whoppin' stick?"  
  
Angered, the digimon flew forward, and the fight began anew. This time was a different story. The fake Flamedramon's blows were furious and full of anger. Davis maintained his cool yet manage to fight with an intensity that couldn't be matched. The fight continued for what seemed like an eternity, till Davis had had enough. Using the over sized gauntlet and the enhanced strength it provided, he seized the digimon with one hand and slammed him into the electric barrier. The digimon, already in weak condition, fell to the ground. The digimon became nothing but a flame, which combined with the gauntlets on Davis' arm.  
  
Davis looked on as the barrier disappear, and Zhuqiaomon reappeared. "It seems that I misjudged you, Davis Motomiya. Congratulations, you are now the new Keeper of Courage."  
  
Davis, however, wasn't listening. The Gauntlets returned to its flame form and entered Davis' body. Soon after, the newly crowned Keeper of Courage fell to the ground and fainted from exhaustion.


	9. You've got questions, he's got answers

I don't own digimon.

Chapter 8- You got questions, he's got answers.

When Davis Motomiya opened his eyes, he became aware of two things. One was that his entire body felt like it was on fire. Two, he notice Gennai and Veemon hovering over him. Veemon was the first to speak, though he could barely register the words.

"Davish! Hey Davish! Are you all right?"

The digidestined tried to speak, but was unable, due to the dryness in his throat and the tired feeling he felt. Instead, he nodded slightly. The digimon sighed in relief. Gennai, who had disappeared a few seconds ago, had returned with what appear to be a cup. He said something, though Davis couldn't hear it, to Veemon. The digimon nodded. He moved over to Davis and sat him up. Gennai moved the cup up to Davis mouth, ordering the chosen to drink. Davis readily complied, thankful for the cool sensation that spread threw out his body.

When the drink was consumed, he felt his strength return, and began to speak. "What was that stuff?" he asked referring to the drink.

Gennai chuckled, "Just an old recipe I pick up long ago. How are you feeling?"

"A little sleepy, but otherwise ok. What happened?"

A new voice answered, "You fainted from exhaustion. The fight with that digimon and bonding with the essence took a lot out of you." All heads turned to see -Ken- standing in a doorway. The chosen of Kindness walked over to a chair to the left of Davis and took a seat. "So your awake."

"Yeah, where are your digimon?"

-Ken- glanced out the doorway to see the three digimon playing around. "They decide to play a game of soccer with Wormmon as the referee." He turned to Veemon, "Why don't you join them to even up the game?"

The blue digimon looked at Davis with a worried expression, but Davis gave the thumbs up, signaling he was fine. The digimon made his way to the doorway, and with one glance back at Davis, joined the game of soccer.

"Gennai, could you leave for a second?" -Ken- requested. The old man complied, shutting the door behind him. With no one to interfere, -Ken- began, "So what do you want to know?"

Davis' answer was simple. "What's the big deal with this essence thing? How do you know so much about them? And how did I do the things I did in that test?"

-Ken- took a deep breath before starting. "The digital world is made up of the essence of twelve powers. Some of this powers you're familiar with, some you aren't. This powers are that of Courage, Friendship, Love, Sincerity, Knowledge, Reliability, Hope, Light, Kindness, Faith, Miracles, and Fate. Gennai and his allies had borrowed some of these powers to make the crest and digimentals. With the exception of Miracles and Fate, the five Keepers guard these powers. There names are Zhuqiaomon, who your familiar with, Azulongmon, Keeper of Light and Hope, Xuanwumon, Keeper of Knowledge and Sincerity, Baihumon, Keeper of Love and Reliability, and Huanglongmon, Keeper of Kindness and Faith."

Davis decided to interrupt, "What about Miracles and Fate? Why aren't they guarded?"

"They don't need to be. They're in the center of the digital world, and you need access to the other essences to gain those two. It's impossible for more than one person to do so, because the path to the center is only large enough for one. These essences are what keep the digital world together. If even one of them ceases to exist, then the results will be nothing short of disaster."

"And how would they cease to exist?"

"If the host carrying it dies."

"Oh, wait what? You mean if I die, the world is gonna end!"

"Not necessarily. It will survive, just a lot of bad things will happen."

"What makes you think I make a better guardian than the turkey?"

"Because he's dying. All the Keepers are. You said it yourself; the control spires poison the land. Those things are slowly killing the keepers. My guess is they have about a year and a half. Zhuqiaomon has less now. Understand now? You have a better chance at living than he does."

"And how do you know all this?"

-Ken- stared for a few seconds before chuckling. Ignoring Davis' 'what's so funny' look, he spoke, "I thought you'd have figured it out by now. I've been to six different worlds. Information like that is easy to come by if you ask the right people."

Davis digested the information and nodded. _So the Digi world in on the clock, huh?_ "So how can I defend myself more?"

"That's easy. Master the essence. Each essence has different abilities. Yours gives you control over fire and the ability change the essence into any weapon. However, using it requires incredible amounts of concentration. Try to summon the essence."

Davis complied, trying to summon a flame. However, try as he might, one would not appear. He closed his eyes, looking deep within himself. When found what he was looking for, he tried to bring it forth. It took great effort, but he succeeded. When he opened his eyes his saw a small flame the size of his thumb hovering in front of him. "I don't understand." He grumbled. "It was way bigger in Zhuqiaomon's domain."

"That's because your determination and resolve fueled the fire. Here is a different story." The dimension traveler hopped to his feet and headed for the door. "We'll be staying here for a month to get you in shape. Get some rest; you'll need your strength." With that said, he exited threw the door.

Davis honestly didn't know want to say. But he did know that he might not get to rest in a while. With nothing left to do, the new Keeper of Courage drifted to a pleasant and welcome slumber.

-------------------------------

The next morning was far less pleasant for Davis. -Ken- had woken him up four hours into the sleep. When he tried to go back to sleep, -Ken- took it upon himself to pour a bucket of ice water on him. Knowing that arguing would be pointless, the drenched and angry Davis relented and followed -Ken- to who knows where. When he decided to actually look at his surroundings, he found that he, -Ken- and Gennai was in a large white hallway, Gennai leading the way.

"Hey, how'd we get here?"

-Ken- turned his head slightly, "Guardian's Sanctuary is far larger than you know. What you saw was the Garden."

The Keeper of Courage nodded thoughtfully. "So were are we going?"

Turning his attention back ahead, -Ken- responded, "Were going to a special training room that Gennai prepared. You ever seen Dragon Ball Z?"

"Yeah."

"Well, this room is a little like the Room of Spirit and Time. One 30-day month in there is two days out here. Convenient, huh?"

Before he could respond, Gennai stopped at a large computer, cause the two to stop. The old man turned to them. "Stay right there." He said before he began typing in commands.

-Ken- remained impassive, and Davis remained confused. Looking down, Davis saw that the two were standing on a glowing square. He heard Gennai say, "There, I'm done." And with that, the glow engulfed them both. When the glow subsided, the two were standing in an area similar to Zhuqiaomon's domain. Before Davis could ask any questions, he heard -Ken- say, "Let's begin."

------------------------------------------------

I semi-made up the crest of Faith. I say semi because the japanese name for one of the crest is faith. There wasn't an even number of crest so I made one. And for those who don't know, Huanglongmon is a real digimon. And he is the guardian beast of the center. If anyone has any questions regarding the fic let me know.


	10. Burly Brawl

I don't own Digimon/ The / at the end of paragraphs signals a change in scene.

Chapter 9 – Burly Brawl

While -Ken- trained Davis, the Guardians of the Digital World were having a meeting. Once Zhuqiaomon finished going over the events that transpired, an eerie silence filled the air. Xuanwumon, a two-headed black turtle, broke the silence. "Remarkable."/

Azulongmon nodded. "Indeed. Gennai, where is this boy?" the dragon asked.

"He asked me to prepare a room for him and Davis to train in. He's making the boy into quite the warrior." The old man replied.

The dragon nodded. "I would expect no less, based on what I've heard. Gennai, could you show me what is happening?"

"Of course." The old man held out his hand. Above his hand a tear seemed to open up, revealing two young men, one with dark red hair, the other with indigo blue. The two were fighting furiously, yet it was clear the second boy was holding back.

"He is an excellent teacher. It has been only one week in there and Davis has learned a great deal." Gennai stated.

"Indeed. But something confuses me. Zhuqiaomon, you have always had a grudge against humans. I find it odd that you would agree to assist one."

"I admit that my love for humans hasn't grown over the years. However, they are the only chance we have. We all can't pretend otherwise, we are dying. Once we do, the digital world will collapse. We can't do anything outside thanks to the control spires, and the digidestined are fighting a war they cannot win." The phoenix looked to his companions with a grim expression. "This -Ken- is the last gamble we have. As mush as I hate to admit it, he is our best chance."

The other four Guardians nodded in agreement./

And so, two days passed. However, to one Davis Motomiya and -Ken Ichijouji-, a whole month passed. It was now the final day, and the day to test what Davis had learned in the last month. In the past month, Davis had been pushed to limits he never thought he'd have to go. He received more martial arts training, tactical maneuvers, and most importantly, how to use the essence of Courage. Today was the day -Ken- determined whether or not Davis was truly ready for the trails ahead.

The two were currently standing a good four feet from each other. The Keeper of Courage pushed all emotion out of his system, for he knew that he needed total concentration for this. When -Ken- gave the signal, Davis rushed forward, summoning the essence in an instant. Flames covered his arms, and the large gauntlets reappeared. Having already formed a plan, Davis struck with the left gauntlet, in turn forcing -Ken- to dodge to the right. Expecting this, he attacked with the other hand. When -Ken- immediately erected a shield, which blocked the blow, that told Davis what he wanted. If -Ken- could have dodged that, he would have. Mainly because using his essence to make shields cause quite the headache later because it was a mental barrier. Davis didn't understand the entire concept, but he did know the shield was a last resort. Gaining new confidence, Davis began his assault.

Davis, when he heard he had to face -Ken- in a real fight, had already formed a plan. That plan was to wear -Ken- down. The other boy was faster, more agile and more experienced than Davis, so it won't be an easy task. The only edges Davis had was that he was physically stronger than -Ken- and that he could control fire. It took a great deal of planning. If one thing was off, then it won't work.

No matter how hard Davis tried, he couldn't land a solid hit on -Ken-. Not only that, but he wasn't fighting back either. -Ken- had just dodged the again, and even though his face betrayed nothing, Davis could see some sweat forming on his forehead. _So far so good_. Davis thought as he ordered the flame to leave his arms. -Ken's- eyes immediately narrowed in suspicion. They then widened in realization as he summoned a shield behind him. As expected a wave of flame collided with the barrier.

'_Impressive. He used the essence to attack me from behind.'_

-Ken- notice the flame had disappeared. He turned his attention forward to notice Davis, gauntlets reformed, attacking once more. -Ken- hastily erected the shield, but it was to last. Davis' fist slammed threw the shield, landing a blow on -Ken's- stomach. Before he could celebrate, -Ken- kicked him in the chest, forcing him away.

Clutching his head in pain and trying to regain his breath, -Ken- couldn't help but feel a tinge of pride. Sure, Davis had just given him a headache the size of Texas because he broke the shield, and had even hit him in the stomach, but thanks to the training -Ken- provided, he has become a powerful opponent. Confident that he was better, -Ken- looked up to meet the eyes of Davis. He hadn't come forward. He just stood ready to resume.

With nothing but a smirk, -Ken- thought, _'I may just have to take this one seriously.'_

The smirk never left his face as his left hand reached for his sword. Both of Davis' eyes widened when he saw this. Obviously he wasn't expecting this. He recovered for his surprise in time to hear -Ken- say, "Time to take it up a notch."/

It's been over one week since the Digimon Emperor began a training regiment of his own, and already he could see the fruits of his labor. His strength was returning rapidly. As was his martial arts. Telekinesis wasn't quite up to par yet, but that could be worked on later. Now he needed sleep. He was looking forward the curling under the sheets and drifting to sleep. However, the second he sat on his bed, the large monitor to the left of him blared to left, cause a small yet annoy amount of light to filter in.

As angry as the tyrant was, this was something he couldn't ignore. After all, very few had access to that monitor. Those few were his generals and knew never to disturb him unless it was a matter of the highest priority. Reluctantly, the tyrant rose from the bed and sat himself in a chair in front of the monitor. Angered, the Emperor began, "What do you want?"

A female voice all to familiar to the tyrant answered, "Temper, temper. Remember, I'm not one of your flunkies. So please mind you manners."

The Emperor frowned as rubbed his eyes. _'Great. Just great. I really don't feel like dealing with this.' _"Arukenimon, if your done wasting my time will you get to the point?"

Her voice then changed to the seriousness that Ken preferred. "Little Edo's been taken care of. Now what about our arrangement?"

The Emperor suddenly remembered back a few months ago when Arukenimon first consulted him. She had wanted him to reopen the portal to the real world. He had no intentions of doing so for free so he made her an offer. If she could capture Little Edo then he'd open the gate. Little Edo had always been a thorn in his side since the beginning and a major city in the resistance. Capturing it would cripple them a great deal.

_'Of course, even if she did capture Little Edo'_, the tyrant thought, _'I have no intentions on opening the portal.'_

"Come here in one week. It will take some time to open the gate. In the meantime, do as you wish." With that said, he shut off the monitor. He leaned back in his chair and took a deep breath. _There's so much to do_, he thought as he tiredly rose from his sit and made his way to the bed._ I have to think of an effective way to kill that woman, and still have to locate that boy.'_ As he slid the silk sheets on him, he was able to forget. Forget all the plans, plotting and revenge. Upon doing so, he fell to sleep./

Arukenimon frowned deeply as the Emperor hung up on her. The brat thought he was so smart. She could see through him as if he were glass. She could tell that he was plotting her demise. She had suspected it before, but now she was sure of it. After all, it's in his nature. She thought of going over there now. Of killing him very slowly. She decided against it though. Knowing the Emperor, he'd probably gather some digimon to attack her. It won't work of course. Not many digimon had the power to destroy her. Rising from her chair, she walked over to the balcony and put her elbows on the edge. _'Let the Emperor play his game'_, she thought._ 'It will be I who has the last laugh.'/_

There were a few things Davis learned about -Ken- in the first days of training. One of those things was that the devil himself must have taught him swordplay. It seemed whenever -Ken- drew his sword, victory was assured. Of course, he only drew his sword when he was serious. The Keeper of Courage didn't know whether to be honored of nervous at this latest development._ 'Probably a mix of both.'_ -Ken- hadn't moved. He just stood there waiting for Davis to make his move.

_'Oh well. When in Rome...'_ Davis lowered the gauntlets to his side and began to concentrate. The oversized weapons reverted into flames, which hovered in front of him. The flame became long and thin, and soon began taking on the form of a sword. The sword was a broadsword. It had a several symbols engraved on the blade. The hilt was a mix of orange and gold, with the crest of Courage on it. As with the gauntlets the sword was as easy to lift. After he finished admiring his new weapon, he held it firmly in his hands and rushed at -Ken-. -Ken- followed suit, and the battle began anew./

_It's odd,'_ thought the leader of the resistance, _'Here I am, bleeding to death with a very angry Yolei in the middle of enemy infested territory, and yet I not nervous or frightened.'_ Of course, he knew why. Yolei was currently fixing his wounds while chewing him out for 'getting in the way'. He was one of the few who could read her, and he knew she was worried. That alone could put a smile on his face in even the darkest night. Yolei was one of many children who were forced to harden her self for war. She more so than any other. The new Yolei was distant, barely said a word, and was as tough as nails.

Getting into the city wasn't the hard part for the leader. He knew it almost as well as Yolei. Finding her was the difficult part. She and Hawkmon were under attack when he and his partner located her. The two managed to save them, but the leader took a near fatal blow doing so. The resistance fighters managed to find a safe house and have been there for the last two days. With the two digimon guarding the only two exits, the two humans were safe to heal the leader without interruption.

At the moment Yolei wearing a torn kimono, explaining she was in a festival of sorts during the attack. Her long purple hair was currently tied in a sloppy ponytail, and she instead wore contacts in the place of glasses.

She looked up at him with an irritated expression. "What are you smiling at?" she snapped.

A playful grin appeared on the leader's face as he answered, "Nothing." He said as innocently as possible.

Yolei sighed exasperatedly. "Remind me to kill you when we get back to the base." She stated as she went back to fixing his wounds. The leader however, stopped her, placing a finger under her chin. She resisted a little, but gave up as always. She still looked frustrated though. "You're beautiful when you're angry, you know that?"

Though she would never admit it, he could swear that she was blushing. He began to lower his head, drawing her in for a kiss. She didn't resist, seeming hypnotized. As their lips touched, both heard a slight shuffling above them. Acting on instinct alone, Yolei grabbed the closest object, her silver colored shotgun, and fired, knowing full well that neither of the digimon would sneak around. Her aim was true, and the dead body of a mindless Ninjamon fell to the floor.

The two looked around to see a large number of glowing red eyes closing in. {Why do you think they didn't attack?} the leader whispered.

{They must want us alive. How many?}

{I count fifteen.}

{Me too. Think you up to it?}

The leader didn't reply. He did however grab his sword. Using it as a crutch he made he way to his feet. The two were standing back to back; all was silent as the Ninjamon creped closer. Finally, the leader said. "Um, about earlier..."

Yolei cut him off, replying in a slightly seductive tone, "We'll finish that later on."

With that, the Ninjamon pounced./

Gritting his teeth in frustration, Davis blocked another attack. Backing away, he wiped the sweat from his eyes. Breathing deeply, he charged forth, attacking -Ken- with a downward slash. -Ken- easily blocked. Ken- could see that Davis was getting weaker by the minute His breath became heavier, and he was sweating like crazy. _'He's wearing down. This won't take long.'_ Seeing an opportunity, -Ken- spun behind Davis and kicked his leg, forcing him to one knee. Before he could recover, -Ken- delivered a roundhouse kick to Davis' jaw, causing him to the ground. With a grin of victory, -Ken- placed the tip of the sword on Davis' neck.

Davis struggled to get up, but was far to worn out to move. Placing the sword back in its sheath, the dimension traveler helped Davis to his feet. With a final pat on the back, -Ken- stated, "You're ready."/

That shotgun Yolei uses is like Irvine's Exeter from Final Fantasy VIII. I decided to keep the resistance leader's identity secret for a little longer. See if you can guess who he is. You might be right.


	11. Unspoken fears and impossible dreams

I don't own Digimon.

Chapter 10- Unspoken fears and impossible dreams

"Yah! We win!" Davis exclaimed like a child, giving Veemon a hi-five. Davis, both Veemon, and -Palmon- were just playing a game of soccer. -Ken- was sitting in a tree with -Wormmon- sitting on his lap. As Davis and his partner celebrated, -Ken- laughed at the display of energy.

"He certainly is lively! Isn't he, -Wormmon-?"

The insect digimon chuckled. "Yes. They always are. He's always so carefree."

-Ken- immediately quieted, lowering his head. –Wormmon- noticed, and turned to see -Ken- smiling. The smile wasn't one of happiness, but was filled with sadness and regret. "Yeah," he began, seemingly lost. "It must be nice. To not have to worry about anything."

-Wormmon- suddenly pinched his partner, causing him to regain his senses. The dimension traveler looked into the eyes of the digimon, which were filled with worry. "You're doing it again." He stated.

Knowing what he was saying, -Ken- tried to apologize. Before he could Davis interrupted him. "Hey -Ken-! Why don't you play some soccer with us?"

-Ken- began to decline, but suddenly heard a familiar voice in his head. (Come on, -Ken-! I've always told you to lighten up!)

The dimension traveler gasped inwardly. Looking down to his waist, he saw that his sword was pulsating with energy only he recognized. Is it time? He asked more excitedly than he cared for.

(Take your time Kenny. You have more of it than you think. Now have fun!)

With a sigh of defeat, -Ken- set –Wormmon- on a branch and jumped to the ground, landing with ease. Flashing a wicked grin at Davis, he declared, "Alright, your on!"/

It was late by the time the Digidestined and digimon decided to stop playing soccer. They had played a total of six games. Both Ken and Davis' teams won three, though Davis declared his losses were due to bad luck, and he wins due to his 'godly soccer playing abilities'. Thanks to Gennai, everyone had a room to sleep in, and everyone took advantage of that. That is, everyone except –Ken Ichijouji-. Quietly sneaking out of his small one room house, he made his way to the room house next to him. With a small rap on the door, he waited for a few seconds before a very tired Palmon answered. "-Ken-? Is something wrong?" she asked while rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

Shaking his head, he simply stated, "It's time."

Her eyes widened and recognition filled her. With a nod the two made their way into the sanctuary's garden till they were a few feet away the rooms. -Ken- sat himself at the base of a tree with Palmon clutching his arm. He removed his sword from its sheath and began to admire the blade. Clearly making out the words 'Black Rose' engraved in Japanese, with the emblem of a rose behind it. He smirked at the name. It wasn't something he would have named it, but it wasn't exactly his to begin with. No, he would speak to the sword's true owner shortly. Replacing the blade, he began to concentrate, summoning the essence of Kindness and the power hidden within the weapon. Threads of green and pinkish purple energy began to surround him as he and Palmon soon blacked out./

Not a second after he blacked out, -Ken- and Palmon awoke. Instead of the garden surrounding them, everything was a mix green and pink. He looked around, yet saw no one. That is, till he looked in Palmon's direction. When he did, he saw that she was hugging a pink haired young woman.

"Oh Palmon! I've missed you so much!"

And he waited. He always did. After all, patience was something he had a great deal of. When the to were done with there reunion, the woman let go of the digimon and began walking up to him, flashing him a special smile reserved only for him. "Hey handsome."

There she stood, clad in blue denim jeans and a black tee shirt, 'Just like the day she died.' He thought bitterly. He pushed the thought out of his head. It didn't matter. Nothing did. Not here. "Mimi," he whispered as he surprised her with a hug./

-Ken Ichijouji- had had a very hard life. His only family died when he was a child. He was chosen to be a bloodthirsty killer shortly after. After reaching a death toll in the thousands he was forced to experience the pain of all he caused pain to, thanks to Hikari Yagami and the power of Light. After waking from something that still robbed him of his sleep, he became friends with one Daisuke Motomiya. Then, the only friend that he ever made was killed thanks to him. He tried many ways to heal at least some of the wounds that he had accumulated over his 16-year-old life. Talking wasn't something he was very good at. Usually anything he said would scare, anger or hurt others. So he tried to keep the talking to a minimum. Then there was the writing. That was something that actually helped. However, nothing helped as much as talking to Mimi Tachikawa of the fourth world.

The fourth world was probably one of the worst worlds out there. The Ken of that world took over rather early, managing to enslave the Dark Masters and Myotismon. Taichi, Sora and Yamato were dead. That left a frightened little girl named Mimi Tachikawa to lead the Chosen in a hopeless struggle. As with most worlds, when he first arrived he wasn't trusted. Especially Mimi, seeing as how she tried to kill him the second she saw him. How ironic that his would-be murderer became the only person he could truly love without restraint. Mimi always seemed to be calm and collected, yet very playful as he found out. Never truly committed to a war she was forced into but always fought harder than anyone. And so far was the only one to put him in his place and slap him with the cold hard reality of his life.

When she died, he was driven back into the cycle of despair he thought he'd never escape. Reminded of the unspoken fear of always being the cause of death and destruction no matter what he tried to do to stop it. And taunted by the impossible dream of finding happiness and never being alone again.

Shortly after leaving the fourth, he discovered that Mimi tied her mind to the essence and her sword. Every now and then, usually a span of a few months, he could communicate with her like he was doing now. By combining both the powers of Kindness and Sincerity, he was able to create a territory similar to that of the Keepers. He often wondered if he was a pathetic person for clinging to the past. After all, he and Mimi could never be together. But, was it truly wrong to find happiness in such a manner? Should he move on and forget her? He never found the answer and he doubted he ever would.

The two humans were currently sitting by a tree created by Mimi, with Palmon sitting on her lap. Neither said anything; simply content with each other's company. Finally, Mimi decided to break the silence. "So tell me about this new world."

"The Davis here was captured by the Kaiser. I freed him and he and I made our way to the Sanctuary. He has the Essence of Courage and so far has control over it."

She gave a 'em hm' sound signaling that she was listening. "And how have you been?"

"Ok I suppose."

She shook her head with a smile. "Don't bullshit me -Ken-. You know better. Now what's bothering you?"

'As sharp as ever.' He thought with a frown. "I... I don't know. It just feels like I'm going in circles. Just about every dimension I go to seems to be the same. Sometimes I wonder if I should give up on this stupid quest."

"Tell me, how many people do you think you've helped? Assuming you save this one, that will make six worlds that you've saved. If you count the human worlds as well, that makes twelve. Imagine how many people exist in all those worlds combined. That a lot of people and digimon if you ask me. You say that all the worlds you've been to have been corrupted right? By another version of you or someone else. Those dimensions and all the people in them would have died had it not been for you."

She reached for his head and pulled him closer. "I know what you think of yourself. You think you're a killer and your right. I won't lie to you about that just like I didn't lie to myself about it. But consider this, would you rather raise your whip on an innocent digimon, or on a person who would do so? What you do is necessary. No matter what you may think. I don't want that for you. Were it up to me, you won't have suffered. You and I would be together; away from all the fighting. We would live out our days in peace. But we can't have that. Remember what I told you the day I died?"

-Ken- took a deep breath. "That the value of a person's life is measured based on the decisions they make in their lifetime."

She kissed he on the head before continuing. "That's right. Some of the decisions you've made may not have been the best ones, but deciding to put aside what happiness you could have in exchange for another's chance to be happy is one of the best decisions a person can make."

Before he could respond, the world that surrounded them began to dim. With a depressed look on her face, Mimi stated, "Looks like our time is up."

The three rose from the ground and dusted themselves off. Once Mimi hugged Palmon goodbye, she immediately clasped -Ken- with a hug. "Remember what I told you. Ok handsome?"

Wrapping his arms around her, he responded "Alright." They separated a little so they could see each other's face. "Love ya." She said, flashing her special smile. Instead of saying the same, he showed her. Bending his head slightly, he kissed her. Kissed her to show her that she was missed. To show her that she was still needed. The kiss lasted for a good two minutes before the world went dark./

Ken's- head suddenly snapped up. Once he became aware of his surroundings, he rose to his feet. Looking down to a depressed Palmon, he offered some words of comfort. "It'll be ok. We'll see her again." The digimon brightened somewhat, and the duo made their way back to their rooms./

Some of you may be wondering why I choose Mimi. Well, when I first started writing this, there were a certain number of prerequisites that had to be filled for Mimi's role. The first is that she had to be from the first and second seasons. The ruled out Rika, Jeri and Zoe. The next was that the couple had to rare. That ruled out Yolei and Kari. Lastly, the character had to be least like the character I had planed, showing how much she grew up due to her life. That left Mimi.


	12. Till next we meet

I don't own digimon.

Chapter 11- Till next we meet

After an hour of sleep, -Ken Ichijouji- a woke from a very familiar nightmare. Wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, and sat himself up on the bed, putting his hands on his head. 'This is not good.' He thought as he remembered the dream. He had this dream very few times before. To have the same dream now meant something very bad was going to happen.

He got up from the bed and began to get dressed. 'Davis is not going to like this./

"WHAT?" Davis shouted.

-Ken- and the digimon inwardly flinched at the volume of his voice. "Davis, calm down."

The keeper apparently didn't hear. "What do you mean Kari's in trouble?"

With a shake of his head, -Ken- began to explain. "In the last world I was in, the Kari there could... communicate to people in their dreams. It only works with people who are sensitive to the powers of light and darkness. TK and myself qualify. She probably doesn't realize what she's doing, but she's obviously in some sort of danger. If she's not found she could die."

"Well what are we waiting for? Let's get going!"

"No."

"Huh?" Davis couldn't believe his ears. "Did you just say no? Kari could die and you just gonna sit here?"

"That's not it. I'll go for Kari; you'll continue your route to this resistance." Before Davis could complain, -Ken- cut him off. "In the state your in, you'll be a danger to Kari and Veemon. Beside, Yolei, TK and Cody need you here."

Davis moved to say something. "But..."

"No buts. You need to calm down."

With clinched teeth, Davis said nothing for a time, yet his entire body was shaking with anger as small traces of flame streaked across his body. Though no one noticed, -Palmon-, -Veemon- and Wormmon readied themselves. They didn't want to, but should the need arise, they would protect -Ken- from anything, even another chosen child. It wouldn't be necessary however, because even in the angered state he was in, Davis knew that nothing would be gained for a foolish assault. Still, that fact didn't calm him. Raising his hand, he slammed it on the nearest object, a large rock he was sitting on a few moments ago. The rock cracked slightly. With a snort, Davis walked back into his room and slammed the door.

"Do you think he'll be ok?" Veemon asked in a worried tone.

"I wouldn't worry about him." -Ken- assured. "He's angry. No doubt about that. But he'll get over it."/

Pacing about the room, Davis was deep in thought. The nerve of that guy! Who does he think he is!' Davis was so deep in thought that he didn't notice Gennai standing behind him.

"What seems to be the trouble?" he asked, causing Davis to jump.

"What are you doing in here?"

"Just making sure everything's in order. You seem to have some trouble's of your own." The old man stated as he took a seat on the bed and patted it once in invitation. The keeper of Courage took the offer. "Now what seems to be bothering you?"

"-Ken-." He said simply. "First he tells me that one of my friends is in trouble, then he tells me I can't go to help them!"

The old man nodded. "Tell me, what does he want you to do?"

"Well he," he stopped for a moment to think. "He wanted me to go help out my other friends." He said in a whisper, as if admitting -Ken- was right and he was wrong.

"I see. You know, I've read some of his books. Interesting things he has written down. He's had a very rough life. The only two people he cared about were killed. You were one of them." Shock filled Davis at that announcement, and guilt soon replaced it. "I... I didn't know."

"In his world, you were the one to give him a chance, when he was on the verge of taking his own life." He sighed deeply "He always blames himself. For everything. And to do what he does takes true strength. I doubt I could even half the things he does."

Davis gave a pensive smile. "Yeah, I know what you mean."

A knock on the door interrupted them. "Davis, we need to get going." –Ken's- said through the door.

"So how about it. Will you take a chance on a lost soul?"

Davis, still shocked by the recent revelations, was silent. '-Ken-, he's been through worse times than me. Yet, he keeps on fighting. When he could have just ended it a long time ago. Why do you do it -Ken-?'

He rose to his feet and ran a hand through his hair. Then, he smirked. 'Take a chance on a lost soul, huh?' "You got it!" he said aloud as he walked out the door./

Upon finally exiting the Guardian's Sanctuary, the party breathed their first fresh air since a week ago. The digimon bathed in the fresh sunlight, -Ken-, with the wild silver hair of Neo Saiba back on his head, watched with a quite smile, and Davis was uncharacteristically silent. It was very hard for Davis to gather up his courage for this, seeing as how he didn't do it very often. Walking over to -Ken-, he began, "Listen, -Ken-. I'm... I'm sorry for yellin' at you. I know your were just trying to help."

One of –Ken's- eyebrows raised before he waved the apology off. "Don't worry about it. I suspected you'd act in a similar manner. It's perfectly understandable to react like that."

With a sigh of relief that the air had been cleared, Davis said, "Thanks. So, do you know were to start?"

"Rosemon said it's likely that Kari's on File Island. That's a good place to start."

"But isn't File Island pretty far from here? How are you going to get there?"

Davis' partner's ears perked up, and he interrupted -Ken- before he could explain. "I know! He's gonna use Imperialdramon! This I gotta see!"

"Im...perialdramon?" the keeper asked questioningly. "What's that?"

A wide grin appeared on the faces of –Ken- and his crew. "You'll find out." He said mysteriously as he turned around.

"When I meet the other's what do I tell them about you?"

Turning back around to meet Davis' eye, he started, "They'll find out about me sooner or later. Which ever you prefer. It doesn't really matter in the long run."

The keeper nodded at this and stuck his hand out for -Ken- to shake. The other took it.

"Be careful, and please save her."

"I intend to." With that the dimension traveler turned to -Veemon- and Wormmon, who were readying themselves for something. "Let's get started." He said to the two. Both digimon were surrounded be a sphere of energy as Davis here the words "Wormmon digivolve to... Stingmon!" "-Veemon- digivolve to... EX-Veemon!" The spheres dissipated and the two large champions emerged.

Davis silently admitted he wasn't impressed, but what happened next he would never forget. The two champions rose to the air and began the spin around each other. "EX-Veemon... Stingmon... DNA digivolve to... Paildramon!"

Still in awe at the dragon man digimon's appearance, Davis didn't notice -Ken- say, "Now for the coup de' grae." He pointed one of the wrist digivices at Paildramon, and a large dragon of pure energy emerged from it and wrapped around the dragon man digimon, incasing his within a large orb of light. Large red wings emerged from the orb as the words 'Paildramon mega digivolve to...!' echoed throughout the area. Something, a horn, popped out of the orb. Suddenly, the orb began to burst as a large dragon of immense power made himself known. "Imperialdramon!"

Davis, for the second time since meeting -Ken-, was truly speechless. Luckily, Veemon summed up what was in his head. "That... was... awesome! Do it again!"

"Maybe next time Veemon." -Ken- said as he walked over to Palmon. He took a knee and whispered in her ear. Shortly after he finished she nodded enthusiastically. He pulled the digivice 01 from his waist and spoke into it. "Lock off. Add new user." He tossed the digivice to Davis. "Say your name." -Ken- said while pointing at the digivice. Davis stared at the digivice for a time. Then, with a shrug of his shoulders he did as told. "Davis Motomiya." The device's screen brightened as a female voice said, "Voice recorded. New user, Davis Motomiya."

"H...how?" he stammered. Digivices don't talk! He thought. "Y' know what? Never mind. Just go. Be ready to explain all this later. But get going. I don't think I can take anymore surprises today."

-Ken- smirked, "Don't worry, only two more surprises. First, Palmon will be accompanying you for a while. Just to make sure you don't run into too much trouble, you have control over her evolutions."

"Uh huh. And the second?"

Turning his attention to the dragon hovering above them, -Ken- shouted "Imperialdramon! Do your thing!"

"With pleasure!" the dragon's voice roared. The large cannon on his back glowed and soon, multiple beams of energy shot out, tearing at their targets, every control spire in sight, like they were mere pieces of paper. Amazed by the complete obliteration of the dark towers, Davis pulled out the D- Terminal -Ken- lent him and accessed the map. A large chuck of black squares that once covered it were now gone./

In a long forgotten tunnel below Little Edo, Yolei, the resistance leader, and the two digimon walked on. Shortly after dispatching the Ninjamon, Yolei stumble across a secret tunnel not even she knew of. The party didn't want to take the unknown route, but had little choice since the enemy knew their location. All was silent until an object in Yolei's kimono began to beep several times.

"What's that?" the leader questioned as the two rode atop his digimon.

Yolei, with a slightly annoyed look, responded, "My D- Terminal. I have it set to beep when a control spire goes up or comes down."

She pulled the device out. "But I don't understand. It hasn't done this in two years." She opened it up. After a second she gasped loudly. This alarmed the leader. "What's wrong?"

In a shaky tone of voice, she said, "You better take a look at this."

Taking the D- Terminal from her and looking at it's content, he gasped as well. "I don't believe it. 20... 30, over 30 control spires gone in less than ten seconds!"

"Not that I'm complaining, but who could have done this?"

After a minute of thought it finally clicked. "...Davis. It's gotta be him and that other guy."

"What other guy?" Yolei questioned.

"Remember that surveillance I told you about? The guy with the three digimon? It's got to be him."/

"That takes care of that." -Ken- declared in triumph.

He shot Davis a glanced. "Till next we meet, Davis Motomiya." Suddenly the dragon digimon fired a beam on -Ken-, and it looked as it he was sucked into his back. Then, in a flash the dragon zoomed away, off to File Island.

'Yeah.' He thought with a smile. "Till next we meet, -Ken Ichijouji-." With those words, he, Veemon and Palmon headed onward./

I was so glad with all the reviews I got, that I wrote another chapter. It's good to know that there are some people who actually like this story. Koi Seracus, it's good to know I'm not the only one who likes Ken/Mimi. You right. It is pretty sad. But I can't go making Ken happy. At least, not yet. I hope the info on the fifth guardian help satisfy your intrest. Forlorn Melody, I guess it's good you can't think of anything to improve on. That means I must be doing something right. Fusion Blaster, glad you liked my explanation of the essenses. Sorry if I forgot anyone. I thank all who reviewed. Oh, and coup de' grae means 'the finishing touch' in french. I like the sound of it so I put it in.


	13. Suspicion

I don't own digimon.

Chapter 12- Suspicion

Flying through the air in the compartment of Imperialdramon, -Ken- thought of many things. Of Davis and the digimon that were left in his company. Of the situation they were in. And of a girl named Kari Kamiya.

_I have to hurry along_, he thought as he walked to the left side of the compartment. _Davis has far worse things to worry about. If my hunch is correct, then I may have to fight **her**_ _again. _He visibly shuddered at the thought of fighting **her** again. She was the only person besides Mimi who could beat the living crap out of him. He barely managed to beat her last time, and that was pure luck.

He shook his head violently_. It pointless to worry about it,_ he decided. _Whatever comes will come. I'll just have to take it head on.' _

It was then that something caught his attention. A red object on the ground up ahead. "Imperialdramon, stop!" The dragon did as commanded, coming to a slow stop. He took a closer look at the red object and the area around. They were currently a few feet from File Island. The red object turned out to be the Tyrannomon, Hiei, they meet last week. He wasn't alone however, as he was surrounded by three Apemon. They didn't seem to notice the large dragon hovering above them. "Imperialdramon, de-digivolve and meet me on the way down."

The digimon release the barrier surrounding it's compartment. Without pause, Ken jumped down headfirst. Shortly after, EX-Veemon caught him in mid-air while Stingmon meet the Apemon on the ground. Stingmon, who had been silently descending on the Apemon, made himself known by using his Spiking Strike. The spike of purple energy sliced thru it like butter. The screams of the Apemon alerted the others. The other two charged forth. They didn't get far however, as one was stopped by a golden colored laser, courtesy of EX-Veemon. The other was quickly cut down by -Ken-.

Walking over to the surprised Tyrannomon, -Ken- began, "So we meet again. How are you?"

The Tyrannomon snorted in disgust. "There is an enemy base surrounding Primary village. I tried to go around but some mercenaries found me out. What business do you have here?" he asked in a slightly suspicious tone.

Long since use to such tones, he answered, "I learned that a friend of mine might be held captive here. I've come to save her if possible."

"Tell me, what does this friend of yours look like?"

"She's Japanese, slightly shorter than me, has light brown hair and red eyes."

The dinosaur nodded. "I do recall seeing a girl matching that description. She was held captive by the Emperor's men."

"And what direction is this base in?"

The digimon tilted his head to the left. "There. That is where the base is."

The dimension traveler put his hand to his chin as his two partners reverted to there rookie forms. "Wormmon, you'll scout the area around the base. Veemon, you watch his back. I'll..." he stopped suddenly and frowned.

"What's wrong?" Wormmon asked.

-Ken- said nothing as he began walking up to a tree. He knocked on it a few times. Nothing happened. Then, he withdrew his sword and took a swing at the tree. Before the sword hit the tree shifted into a white object and jumped out of the way. "Please don't hurt me!" It begged.

"Hmph, a Bakemon. What are you doing here?"

"I got word you were coming this way. I with the Resistance."

"Tell me, why should I believe you?" -Ken- asked as he gestured his sword dangerously. The digimon seemed visibly panicked. "I, um, oh wait!" he exclaimed as he reached into his robe/sheet and fished out a plastic card. "This is my ID." He said as he handed to -Ken-. With a quick look over, he tossed it back. "This means nothing to me."

The digimon's panic returned, thinking he would next to join Apemon as -Ken's- next victim. Luckily, Wormmon stepped in. "I believe him."

One of -Ken's- eyebrow rose. "You too?" he asked Veemon, earning him a nod. With a deep sigh, he began, "Alright, you can come with us if you want. But should you try anything you'll beg for deletion by the time I'm done." His voice was simple and final, meaning a wrong answer would earn the Bakemon a quick grave.

"Right! I gotcha!"

"Now, do you have a name or are you just called Bakemon?"

"Yup!" he said more energetically. "They call me Saguru."

"Saguru, to spy huh?" The dimension traveler turned around. "Alright everyone, let's get going."/

"So Palmon, how long do you think it'll take -Ken- to get to File Island?" Davis asked with his hands stuck casually in his pockets. Davis, Veemon and Palmon were currently walking in the forest -Ken- left them. Luckily Palmon knew the land pretty well.

"Odds are they're already there. Imperialdramon's the fastest digimon in existence."

Davis simply nodded his head. At this point there were very few things about -Ken- that could surprise him. Mainly because he could make many things possible. "Oh, that reminds me!" Palmon suddenly exclaimed. She reached into a backpack -Ken- left her and pulled out a hefty size book.

"-Ken- wants you to do this." She said, handing him the book.

He took a good look at it. "1001 puzzles and games for a long trip. What the hell?" he said as he flipped it open and saw a note was written on the front. He began to read it aloud. "Davis, I want you to do everything in this book. By completing this hopefully you'll be able to notice things easier. Consider it training. –Ken." Flipping thru the pages, he sighed. "You never make things easy, do you -Ken-?" He looked at the bottom of the note, were it read, 'P.S. No I don't.'

"Ha ha." He responded sourly as he continued to walk./

"This security is pathetic." -Ken- stated as he surveyed the area via tree. There were only five guards around the entire camp. All were champion level. Most of the enslaved digimon were rookies and lower. Still, there was no excuse for how easily he alone could take it. However, something didn't seem right about the place. He looked around the area. There were very few control spires around at all. All the digimon seemed more lifeless than usual. And there was something disturbing about the place. It wasn't just the fact that it had the perfect makings for a trap, but it was something else he couldn't put he foot on.

He jumped down to meet the eyes of the four digimon he traveled with. "Odds are good that it's a trap." He said. "But if Kari is in there, I'm going in anyway. Anyone who wants to back down better do so now." He didn't really know why he asked. He knew that if he went anywhere, Veemon and Wormmon would follow. Tyrannomon possessed too much honor to give up on saving his friend. The base was an obstacle. The only one he really asked was Saguru, the Bakemon.

As expected, the first three digimon nodded solemnly. Saguru, seemingly put off at -Ken's- decision, simply shrugged. -Ken- smirked at the digimon's response. It really wasn't what he expected, given his reaction when he was about to meet the business end of -Ken's- sword. Now he seemed almost... relaxed.

With a shrug of his own, he began to explain. "Ok, so we know that a trap is likely. People don't just set traps everyday, so they know were here. The Emperor and his troops are arrogant, so they will underestimate us, seeing as how hardly any digimon on this island have surpassed the Champion level. Based on what I saw, the best way to go about this is an ambush since stealth is too expected. Hiei," he addressed the large digimon, "You're the largest of us and you can digivolve. That nominates you to attack the front gate. Do you think you can handle it?"

"Of course."

"Good. Veemon, Wormmon, you two take will take the left side of the base as Paildramon. Digivolving probably won't be necessary, but do it if you have to. Saguru, you and I will handle the right side. Based on what I've seen, the prison cells are there. I trust you'll watch my back?"

Upon seeing the death glares he received from Veemon and Wormmon, which said 'try anything and you die', he chuckled weakly. "Yeah, sure. I don't plan on causing any problems."

"Alright then, let's get started."/

Within a matter of minutes, a large explosion erupted from the gates of the Emperor's File island base. The cause, Metal Tyrannomon, charged through the rumble with ease. As digimon from the within the base went to meet the threat, Paildramon swooped down, deleting many in the process. The chaos caused by the two Ultimates gave -Ken- and Saguru plenty of time to sneak in the cells of the base. As he continued down the stairs of the base, he felt an odd chill in the back of his neck.

The area was very large, the cells few and far between. In fact, the place seemed hardly in use. The small amount of light provided showed that there weren't any prisoners at all. As -Ken- pondered what was wrong with the place, he almost missed something move in the corner of his eye. The digimon leapt at him with great speed. So fast that the Black Rose was barely out it's sheath as the digimon reached his face.

It didn't touch him, however, as a large golden blade sliced thru it. The digimon fell to the ground with a thump as -Ken- look at his savior. It was Saguru, only he wasn't a Bakemon. Staring at piecing blue eyes, a red cloak, gray robes, and a large scythe, -Ken- spoke with obvious surprise. "You... digivolved."

Saguru, now a Phantomon, chuckled.

The dimension traveler smirked once more. "Well meet Saguru. I must admit I didn't expect that one."

"Call it a trump card I picked up from days long past. Now how about we save your friend?"/

This chapter was difficult to write. The fact that so many distractions got in the way didn't help. Oh well. LittleMe, Lynn R, it's always good to see new names among my reviewers. I assure you that any questions you may have will be answered. It's all a matter of time. Oh, and Lynn, I understood you perfectly, your English seems fine to me.


	14. To the End of the Abyss, Part 1

I don't own digimon.

Chapter 13 – To the End of the Abyss, Part I

"Now how about we save your friend?" Saguru suggested.

-Ken-, at the moment, had different plans. "One second." He said as he bent down to inspect the corpse of his assailant. 'It wasn't deleted.' -Ken- has been in many digital worlds. All of them were different in one way or another. But one thing was always the same. Once you kill a digimon the body disintegrates and is reconfigured. There were only two exceptions, digimon killed in the real world, and...

-Ken's- heart skipped a beat as he shot up and broke into a run down the corridor. 'It's all starting to make sense!' he thought. 'Those digimon at the base, that thing in the hall. This unsettling feeling I've had sense I got here!'

"Hey, wait up!" Saguru yelled as he followed. -Ken- paid him no mind. 'This isn't File Island. It has to be...!' As he reached the end of the corridor, he felt the poorly lit corridors and hard cement floors disappear, only to be replaced by stale air and gray sand. He looked around to find Hiei, Saguru and Paildramon. The former two looked confused by the change of location, but he and Paildramon know where they were.

Walking a few steps forward, -Ken- gazed at a lighthouse that produced black light. "The Dark Ocean."

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

On the top of the hill directly above one of the Emperor's bases, Davis sat against a tree with a pen held loosely in his fingers and a frown of frustration on his face. He was currently on the 15th puzzle in the book and, as he found out, the difficultly increase with every puzzle. That aspect itself didn't surprise him. What did was the sheer difficulty of the book. It made him wonder why the name was '1001 puzzles and games' and not 'You have to be Ken Ichijouji to solve anything in this book.'

"Davis." A voice suddenly spoke, causing Davis to jump. He looked over to see Rosemon standing next to him. 'Damn she's quiet! I didn't even feel her sneak on me!' he thought as he remembered sending Rosemon to scout the base and Raidramon to search the area around it.

The Keeper of Courage put the thick book back in the bag -Ken- left him and stood up. "So what did you find?" He asked.

"It's very well guarded. Not a digimon there is under Champion. You, Veemon and I won't be able to take it alone. The leader is SkullMeramon. He's one of the Emperor's Generals. And TK is there as well. That's all I could find."

Davis walked a short distance until the base came into view. "Alright, When Raidramon gets back we'll think of a plan."

"... Something seems to be troubling you. Would you mind my asking why?"

Davis turned to face the digimon, impressed once more. She was right, something was bothering him. Scratching his head, he began. "I... I'm just wondering if I can handle this is all."

The digimon tilted her head. "What do you mean?"

"What I mean is, I not sure save everyone." He sighed. "Back then, it was easier being a leader. I knew that I had my friends to help me out. Now, of all times, doubts startin' to get to me. What if I do something wrong? I don't think I could live with myself if Veemon or any of my other friends got killed 'cause of me."

Rosemon knowingly smiled. "I see. Are you aware that the thoughts you have are the same as anyone that takes the position of a leader? -Ken- told you of my story, did he not?"

Davis frowned, recalling what -Ken- told him during their training. "Yeah, I heard."

"Mimi had the very same thoughts. She was but a child then; four, maybe five years younger than you are now. Yet she knew what she needed to do. She knew it was time to grow up. To take the selfless path and fight with all that she was. Even if she was forced to forsake her childhood to do it.

Let's not forget that -Ken- trusted you with this task. He would not do so if he didn't deem you fit to carry this burden."

Speechless by the wisdom the digimon possessed, Davis smiled. "Thanks. I need that."

"Think nothing of..." she stopped as she heard voices approach. They could understand what was being said, so Rosemon reached for her rapier and Davis silently formed his two oversized gauntlets. As the voices became more audible the found they had no need for them.

"It's this way." A gruff voice said.

"You said that last time. We almost got lost remember?" an irritated female said.

"Almost, Yolei. Almost. Now can we hurry along? My back is killing me." The gruff voice replied.

"Yeah, sorry about that." A male voice apologized.

"It's Ok. But can we hurry along? Davis is probably worried about me."

The three beings plus two digimon emerged from the forest. "Davis! There you are. Guess who I found?" Raidramon said, inclining his head to the beings around him.

"Yolei?" Davis whispered. He looked over to Raidramon, or more specifically, the Person on his back.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Jo, most of the titles I find from something else of if they sound cool. Last Dinosaur, Heart of Fire, Burly Brawl and this Chapter's title are really songs. Last Dinosaur's from the FLCL soundtrack vol. 2, Heart of Fire is from Castlevania, Burly Brawl's from Matrix Reloaded, and To the End of the Abyss is from Final Fantasy 10. Training Day is a movie. The rest just go with the chapter. Neo Saiba was the rival of Taichi, the main character from a digimon manga. He and -Ken- have crossed paths, but that's a story for another day (or fic). This Chapter's kinda short. Sorry about that.


	15. To the End of the Abyss, Part 2

I don't own Digimon

Chapter 14 – To the End of the Abyss part 2

Bending down to the ground, -Ken- grabbed a fist full of black sand. As it slipped throw his fingers, a memory came to him.

OXOXOX

Flashback

"We don't have to do this Davis." Ken said, despite the fact he knew they did.

Davis smiled sadly. "Yeah, we do. The others probably think I'm a fool for defending her, but I don't care." Fire began to surround his arms as two gauntlets appear in their place. "Tell me, have you ever been in love?"

Ken sighed as he reached for his sword. "Yeah, I have."

"Then you know what I'm taking about. I don't give a damn if she's the world's enemy. As long as she needs me, and even when she doesn't, I'll be by her side. I'm the last hurdle you have to cross, and I not backin' down. Same goes for you right?"

"Yeah."

"Thought so." He muttered as he took a fighting stance. "No matter the outcome of this, are we still friends?"

Ken smiled with a nod. "We'll always be friends, Davis." And with that, the two charged each other.

OXOXO

As the last of the sand dripped to the ground, he made a fist. 'I won't allow that to happen again.'

Rising to his feet he pressed a button on his wrist- digivice. A map appeared. On the map were three dots, a blue one, a green one and a pink one. The first two, -Ken's- signals, were overlapping, and the last one was a small distance away. "She's there." He said, pointing toward the ocean.

Saguru the Phantomon walked, or floated, over to him. "Neo, do you know were we are? This is obviously not File Island."

"Looks like I was right. It was a trap. We also have company." As he spoke, dozens of creatures emerged from the surrounding forest and ocean. "This could get ugly." Said Paildramon as his two wrist spikes emerged. "Ken, go after Kari. I'll take care of this guys."

"Yes, save your comrade. I shall assist Paildramon." Hiei added.

"Alright, make a hole for Saguru and I. And be careful." The digimon nodded as they began to charge their attacks. -Ken- and Saguru dodged out of the way as several energy bullets and missiles ripped thru the creatures. Taking advantage of this, the two charged thru the hole that was made, slashing down those in the way. "Do you think those two will be alright?" Saguru asked.

-Ken's- reply was full of certainty. "Yeah. Paildramon and I have faced far worse situations. And Metal Tyrannomon can handle himself from what I've seen."

The two reached the beach. After stopping to look around, Saguru narrowed his eyes. "Your ultimate called you Ken. Cared to explain why you have the same name as the Emperor?"

-Ken- mentally swore. 'Oh well. It was bound to happen sooner or later.' "Listen, I don't have enough time to explain everything. All I can tell you is that my intentions are to help my friend. Will that do?"

The digimon's uncertainty was apparent. "I suppose that will have to do, given the situation. But I expect an explanation after this."

The dimension traveler nodded. "You shall have one." He turned his attention to his digivice, then looked up and pointed at the sea. "That's our destination."

"Um, you do know there's nothing there, right?"

-Ken- didn't listen as he walked forward. Just as his feet were about to touch the water, it fell on something solid. "There's a cloaking spell surrounding a castle. If you can't see thru it you can't access the bridge. Looks like Myotismon's work."

"M… Myotismon!"

"Yeah. I assume you know of him?"

Saguru's shoulders fell. "Know him? Use to work for him."

Though it didn't show, -Ken- very surprised. "You worked for Myotismon and your still alive?" Ken wasn't threatened by the ultimate. Just curious. "I thought no Bakemon were left when they fought with Myotismon."

The digimon shrugged. "I got lucky. It was my turn on guard duty when a Gatomon and a Wizardmon showed up. Knocked me out pretty good." The digimon turned from -Ken- for a moment. " I wondered around for awhile till some old guy** (1)** took me back to the digital world." A sigh came from the ultimate before he continued. "We didn't know what Myotismon was about. Not entirely anyway. Guess he thought we'd made a pretty good shield." He gave a bitter chuckle. "Even the Emperor uses us like toys. Guess we Bakemon just scream cannon fodder don't we?"

The ultimate turned back to -Ken-. "Well, that's enough of that. We should get going."

OXOXOXO

Deep within his castle, staring at a large viewing screen, Dragomonwas confused. And one thing Dragomon hated was being confused. He took all the advice the human before him gave. He hid File Island, so that the power of the life force of newborn digimon would be his. He created a fake File Island so no one got suspicious. And thanks to the human before him, he could extract the power the child of light possessed. Once he had her power, even the five guardians would bow to him. Yet, someone, a human, had got thru the illusions and was in **HIS** dark ocean. The human had powerful digimon with him. And now, he and one of them were making there way in **HIS** castle to his location. Indeed, Dragomon hated being confused.

"Human, why is this boy here? You guaranteed no one would know of this! I demanded answers!"

The human in a purple trench coat wasn't at all put off by the massive digimon in front of him. "If you must call me something, call me Oikawa. This 'human' thing is both tiresome and inaccurate. As for the boy, I really can't tell you anything." Oikawa turned to the screen. "He saw through our little island. As well as the cloak I put over this castle. His digimon also seem more than a match for those creatures of your. Not that I really cared for them too much. They seem to be as worthless as their master."

"HOW DARE YOU!" Dragomon screamed as he attacked with a tentacle. Oikawa merely sidestepped. He stared at the ultimate; his eyes glowing with dark energy. "Another outburst like that and I'll remove your head." Dragomon thought of destroying the human now for his insolence, but thought better of it. If Oikawa died, he wouldn't be able to safely assimilate the child of light's power. Reluctantly, he backed off, silently thinking of ways to torture the human. Oikawa knew of what Dragomon thought, but paid it no mind. Dragomon was a fool after all.

He walked away from the screen, over to a tube with a girl, roughly sixteen in age, floating with an expression of pain on her face. "How is the extraction process going so far?"

"Slowly. I don't know how long it will take."

"Hmm, my guess is a few more days." He said as he walked over to the digimon. "But if the tube is tampered with even slightly, the girl will die and her power with her. Do you think yourself competent enough to keep the boy and a Phantomon away?"

The digimon's reply was a snort.

A sinister grin appeared on the man's face. "Good." Holding out his right palm, a dark energy fired from it to the wall. The energy separated as a picture of a mountain appeared. As he walked forward he thought maybe he should stay. Before dismissing the thought. Dragomon may be a fool, but he was a strong fool. Besides, even if Dragomon did fall they couldn't remove the girl without the password. His confidence reassured, he entered the portal to the real world.

OXOXO

Meanwhile, in the hallways of the Dragomon's castle, -Ken- and Saguru followed the signal that –Ken's- digivice gave. Finally, when the three dots were almost overlapping, they came across a large door. "She's in that room." Before the two could figure out how to open the door, they heard a faint voice behind it. "Thousand Waves!"

Not needing any warning, the two jumped out of the way as the massive door of steel was sent flying against the wall by a pillar of water. They heard a voice speak. "It seems that I have visitors. Well, it would be rude of me not to properly entertain my guests. Thousand Waves!"

OXOXO

_The three beings plus two digimon emerged from the forest. "Davis! There you are. Guess who I found?" Raidramon said, inclining his head to the beings around him. _

"_Yolei?" Davis whispered. He looked over to Raidramon, or more specifically, the person on his back._

"Matt? What are you guys doing here?"

Matt chuckled. "We could ask you the same question. How'd you escape? And where's that silver haired guy?"

Davis' gauntlets reverted to flames and re-entered his body, much to the surprise of Yolei and Matt. He began to remember what -Ken- had told him.

_"When I meet the other's what do I tell them about you?"_

"They'll find out about me sooner or later. Which ever you prefer. It doesn't really matter in the long run."

'_They need to know. It'll be better to get it out the way.'_ "Matt, Yolei, you'd better sit down."

OXOXO

Dragomon cried in pain as Saguru slashed into his left arm with his massive scythe. The aquatic digimon smacked him away, backing up before -Ken- could remove his head. Reaching behind his back with his good arm, he seized his weapon, a trident. "The games end here! Forbidden Trident!" The weapon glowed fiercely as an intense flash of energy erupted around Dragomon. -Ken- erupted a shield to protect himself. Saguru teleported a short distance away.

As the energy subsided, Dragomon couldn't think. 'It seems that these fools are more trouble than I predicted.' He looked over to the capsule of his captive. 'I must finish this quickly. I can't risk endangering the girl!' He reared his trident back, and attacked, attempting to strike -Ken- down. It didn't quite work. As the weapon hit the ground, -Ken- jumped on it and began running up the shaft. Before Dragomon could shake him off, -Ken- leapt at him, sword slashing in an attempt to severe Dragomon's head. The digimon tried to dodge, but the sword found him, cutting into his neck. The aquatic digimon backed away in surprise, before Phantomon cut off his right arm. For the first time in a long time, Dragomon felt fear. Acting out of pure panic. The digimon attacked. "Thousand Waves!" the water poured from the digimon's mouth as his opponent's scattered. Using this opportunity, Dragomon escaped.

Phantomon floated over to -Ken-. "Are you alright?"

"A little soaked but otherwise OK. You should go after him." The digimon did as told, following the massive digimon. -Ken- searched the room till his eyes rested on a capsule. Walking over to it, he looked at its occupant. "Kari." He looked to the left of her, to find a series of wires and tubes going in and out of the capsule, along with a machine and keyboard. "Hmmm, this is definitely Myotismon's work." He took a closer look. " It's slowly draining her powers. But if the process is stopped than it will have been for nothing." He sighed deeply. " Unfortunately, it's set to kill her if you don't type in the right password. But knowing Myotismon," he walked to the keyboard and typed in "M-A-R-I-O-N-E-T-T-E." The machine began to hum for a short time before a computerized voice spoke. "Process terminated." He breathed a sigh of relief as he looked at the girl with a smile. 'You put me thru hell, ya know.' He then withdrew his sword and slashed a rectangle into the glass, careful not to cut her. The water forced the rectangle out and the girl feel into his arms. 'Her breathing is slow. So is her pulse. And she's malnourished. Just enough to keep her alive, probably not even that.' -Ken- restraint the anger he felt a concentrated on the task at hand. He broke into a run as he heard a struggle outside. A horrible srieck died as he saw Phantomon remove his scythe from one of many dead creatures. -Ken- gave a whistle showing he was impressed. Saguru just shrugged. "He got away. These things," he spat, "held me up."

"Don't worry about it. We got what we came for."

OXOXO

1. the old guy was Gennai.

It's finally been revealed that Matt is the leader. Man, it's been awhile. Sorry for not updating sooner. I blame school, crappy computers, and addicting Naruto fanfiction. Anyway, thanks for the kind words everyone. I'll try to post as often as possible. Forlorn, sadly, the manga that I spoke of earlier isn't in the US yet. Luckily every season except Frontier is. I think they're an excellent read. You'll likely find them at a Barn's and Noble or a Borders.


	16. To the End of the Abyss, Part 3

I don't own digimon.

Oh and Forlorn, the OXOXO thing is to just to let you know that the scene's changed. My old scene changer doesn't work now.

Chapter 15 –To the End of the Abyss, part 3

-Ken- and Saguru were exiting Dragomon's Castle when Saguru asked, "What do you think happen to her?" as he looked at the girl in –Ken's- arms. "Besides begin half dead, I don't know. I tried to enter her mind, but she's blocking me out. Well, it's more like there's more than one Kari in there. It's a storm of voices that can't distinguish anything. It's nothing but confusion. It was unpleasant for me, but imagine how she feels." He sighed deeply. " Not to mention the fact that she's probably hasn't had a decent meal in a long time. I'm guessing Myotismon and Dragomon were going to kill her once they took all her power. But, if we don't get her proper medical treatment within a few days she'll die."

"The resistance base should be able to take care of her."

-Ken- shook his head. "That won't work. I have no idea how to get out of here safely, or how long it'll take."

"Then what else is there?"

"I have a plan. All we need to do is get Paildramon and Hiei."

OXOXO

Dragomon staggered thru a section of the castle, searching for something. 'Where is it?' he thought. It was a 'gift' left by the human Oikawa. He left in case something like this happened. Dragomon, suffering from the disease known as arrogance, felt he didn't need it and obviously misplaced it. He fell against a wall, feeling the energy leave his body. 'Is… is this how I end?' he thought as fear filled him. 'Beaten by a human and a Phantomon!' Suddenly, his eye caught something. It was glowing a faint purple from the corner of his eye. Gritting his teeth, he pushed interfering equipment out of the way to find a small crystal. Normally he would say, 'Is this it?' and have tossed it in a corner, (which is what he did in the first place) but now, missing an arm and badly injured, he was desperate. He took the crystal in his remaining hand.

XOXOX

The Digimon Emperor slumped in his chair, dead tired. He lifted his hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead, and didn't bother to suppress a chuckle. His clothes were torn and he was covered in bruises, but he was satisfied. 'That fool will be in for quite a surprise next we meet.' He was already thinking of what he would do when he had that boy at his feet. Killing him wouldn't do justice to the humiliation he caused, and he could tell his adversary wasn't one to beg for mercy. No, this one was special. He had to be broken, both physically and mentally. Then, the thought occurred to him. He knew almost nothing about the silver haired boy. All he knew was that he possessed great power. Power like that's not easy to come across without the Emperor knowing.' Just who the hell are you?' he said to himself. Then, he thought back, to the battle the two of them had. There was something he recognized, something about the other that was familiar to him, but he pushed it in the back of his head, after seeing the other's fist so often.

An image suddenly flashed in his head. 'His arms. Those two devices on his arms.' They were quite unique. They almost looked like… His eyes widened as he sat up and spoke.

"Computer, access files on project 'Traveler.'"

The screen next to him lit up, and ran thru a list of many unfinished projects the Emperor started till it found the right one. The second he saw the specs he gasped out loud. "Of course!" he exclaimed as he put everything together. He grinned then. "It's all coming together now. Who else could come under my nose like that without my knowing? Who else ever had a hope of defeating me?" He got up from his chair and walked to the window. "No one. There isn't a human alive that has a chance against me… except another me." 'So, somewhere out there, I finished the Traveler. I didn't have a power source good enough the power the thing, so I gave it up. Apparently, that didn't stop him.' His grin widened ten-fold. 'Finally, a worthy adversary. Someone to test the full extent of my power. A battle between two Kens', two perfect beings. I almost feel sorry for the insects caught in the crossfire. Almost.'

The tyrant thought of forming an alliance with his other self, but that thought didn't last long. It was obvious that this version of him fought for the wrong side. 'Besides,' he thought as he stared at the night sky. 'Something's can't be forgive. No matter who you are. No, it will be far more entertaining to fight him.' He walked back over to his computer and sat down. 'And I know the perfect stage.' " Computer, restart project 'Dante'.

The computer droned 'Affirmative', before the Emperor was greeted with silence once again. Satisfied, the Emperor opened his drawer, pulled out a book and began to read, too excited by the idea of a worthy challenge in three years.

OXOXO

Matt, Yolei, Hawkmon and Gabumon were speechless for sometime. And though Davis understood this quite well, it still unnerved him. Finally, Matt ran his hand thru his hair and sighed. "Hell of a story."

Yolei, who remain impassive the whole time, spoke, sounding a lot like the old Yolei when she said. "He's nuts."

"I wouldn't say that much." Matt intervened as he looked into Davis' eyes. "He's either lying, crazy, or telling the truth. Lying has never been one of Davis' strong points, Veemon won't follow a crazy person, and that tale makes a lot of sense."

"It's possible he could be an imposter." Yolei spat out venomously.

The resistance leader shrugged. "Then shoot him and find out." In a heartbeat she whipped out her shotgun, aiming it at Davis' head. This earned a gasped from Raidramon. Rosemon raised an eyebrow, but keep silent. 'This is up to Davis. Besides, I should be able to intervene if she decides to shoot.'

Davis looked directly at Yolei. 'What… what happened to you? You aren't like this. Has three years changed you this much?' The Keeper of Courage then proved that he deserved his title. He took a few steps closer to Yolei and spread his arms, giving her a clear shot. He could practically feel her start to pull the trigger…

OXOXO

-Ken- and Saguru found Paildramon and Hiei in a shack by the beach. It had been quite simple really. All the two had to do was follow the bodies. Saguru opened the door to find Paildramon pointing a Desperado Blaster at him. He lowered it as he saw who it was. "Sorry." He said. "Can't be too careful. Did you find her?"

Ken walked up to him. "Yes, but she needs medical attention. We need to get her to the real world."

Paildramon exploded then. "Are you kidding? You do know what'll happen, right? There has to be another way!"

-Ken's- features hardened. "I have to do it. All other options will take to much time."

"Have you considered the fact that you haven't opened a gate in three years? What if… what if you change?"

"I know what I'm doing. And if I become him again, then you knew what to do."

"Um guys," Hiei said from the corner he sat in. "You might want look at this." He said, pointing out a window. The human and digimon looked to hundreds of Dragomon's creatures surrounding them.

-Ken- took a good look at his comrades. Tyrannomon was covered in gashes and breathing heavily. Paildramon looked fairly fresh. 'Not much of a surprise.' He thought of the current situation. 'Kari's in bad shape, we're surrounded by Dragomon's creations, and I need to open a gate to the real world.' "Paildramon, Saguru, think you can hold them off for a while?" the two digimon nodded as -Ken- expected. "Good. While you keep them busy, I'll get us out of here."

XOXOX

…Only to stop and pull it back. "It has to be Davis." Yolei muttered. " Only he's stupid enough to walk in front of a gun." Her tone was completely serious, yet Davis and Matt could swear the heard a sliver of humor leak through. Matt smirked expectantly and Davis and Raidramon breathed a sigh of relief. "So, you believe me?" he asked her.

"I'll need more proof before I can do that."

"Fair enough." Davis said nonchalantly. "Now is my turn for questions. What are you guys doing here?"

"I'll take it from here." Matt said. " Little Edo was taken over by some strange woman working for the Emperor. Yolei was stationed there, so I went in to save her. We found an unused tunnel that led to a spot a little ways from here. Raidramon found us and brought us here. He… he said T.K is in that base. Is it true?" The tone of his voice was hopeful.

Rosemon nodded. "We were just thinking of a plan. Care to assist?"

OXOXO

"Do something!" Dragomon screamed at the small crystal. He could barely stand, and the item in his hand wasn't helping. He thought of smashing the object right now, until he heard a voice. 'Hmm, I see your using the crystal.' Said a mocking voice. Or more specifically, Oikawa's mocking voice. Then the voice grew angry. 'Since your so desperate I can assumed that you fail in defeating the child and his digimon. You truly are useless.'

Now Dragomon was livid. Granted what Oikawa said was true, but it was the last thing he wanted to hear right now. "All you've done is mock me, yet how do I know you can do any better?"

'…So you possess intelligence after all. But make no mistake, I don't need to prove anything to you. Alright, I'll assist you in cleaning up your mess.'

"And how do you propose to do that?"

'Simple. Focus all your anger into that crystal and shatter it to find out.'

Then the voice vanished. Dragomon sat in silence. At the moment he felt as if he were the embodiment of the phrase 'How the mighty have fallen.' The digimon was truly surprised that he was defeated, while in all honesty he shouldn't have been. The last time Dragomon did combat was centuries ago. Many powers had come and gone. The Seven Great Demon Lords, the Twelve Great Angels, even the Five Guardians were at the mercy of a human boy. Yet through it all he survived. But what he didn't realize until now was that time claimed all, no matter how powerful you were.

'NO!' he thought defiantly. 'I will not fade into obscurity! I refuse!' He did as the human told him and smashed the crystal on the ground. For a second nothing happened, but then dark energy erupted from the crystal's remains, and began wrapping around him before he could wonder what happened. "It's… its magnificent." He whispered as he felt the power embrace him. He began chuckling, which erupted into full-scale laughter of insanity as he shouted. "Dragomon digivolve to…!"

OXOXO

Ignoring all the screams outside-Ken- focused on the portal to the real world. It wasn't easy. First he had to ignore the dark whispers, the half promises the dark seed within him made. They were tempting, but -Ken- knew full well the consequences if he gave in. The trick to the Dark Seed was knowing how to manipulate it, not let it manipulate you. This wasn't easy since it had access to your dreams and emotions. It could twist your words and use them against you. It could make you believe you had two heads if it wanted to. Luckily-Ken- knew how to control it through years experimenting, but that didn't mean he liked using it.

Secondly. You had to picture were you were you wanted the portal to open. Normally this wasn't hard, but -Ken- had never been to this dimension's Real World before. If the place you wanted to be wasn't there, then you were out of luck.

Luck, however, was on -Ken's- side today, as the image of Odiaba Hospital's roof appeared. The dimension traveler grinned in satisfaction. Now all that was left was to get Paildramon and Saguru. The screams were starting to die down. He opened the door to see a large black and blue foot standing a few inchs away from the door, with a Bakemon standing a few inches few it. Around the two were a few dead bodies and burn marks.

"You were forced to digivolve?" -Ken- asked. "Your getting soft." He added playfully.

"Yeah, yeah." Imperialdramon Fighter Mode drawled.

Saguru ignored the two, asking -Ken"Is this portal ready"

Before -Ken- could answer, an chilling laugh filled the air. The three looked in the direction of Dragomon's castle, the source of the laugh. At frist they saw nothing, till a large, red claw bursted thru the side of the building. More of the sructure went with it as a large red and black digimon emerged. His arms were long and red, hislegs were covered with black hair with six eyes were on the waist, and he wore a mask with long blond hair and two large horns.

-Ken- had never personally seen the digimon, but he knew it all the same. "Venom Myotismon..." 'Tai was right.' he thought. 'His eyes are completely devoid of sanity."

Ken didn't tell him to, but it wasn't nesessary, as Imperialdramon knew what to do. Holding up his arm, he annonced his attack. "Positron Laser" The beam of energy shot forth, intent on eraticating anything in it's path. Venom Myotismon, however, had different plans. "Chaos Blaze" Six blood redbeams fired from the six eyes on the digimon's waist. Four of them canceled out Imperialdramon's attack, and the remaining two hit Imperialdramon in the chest. The mega fell to one knee, clutching the wound.

'I don't get it!' thought Ken as he saw the damage the attack did. 'He shouldn't be THAT powerful!' The Dimension traveler didn't know where the dark digimon came from, but he knew the had to leave. He could feel the portal close, and he knew that this was a fight they couldn't win right now. "Imperialdramon! We're leaving"

The dragon man digimon was shocked. "What? Why"

Ken grinded his teeth. "Don't argue with me and come on! The portal's closing"

The digimon growled as he dedigivolved into two champions and raced for the shack along with Saguru. Venom Myotismon chuckled darkly as he saw them scurry into the shack. 'As if that will save them. I don't NEED the girl! I will rule the digital world with this POWER!' He began to laugh madly as he launched another Chaos Blaze the second the last of them ran inside. The structure, however, wasn't a mega digimon, and was easily incinerated by the blast.

As he continued laughing, he failed to notice Oikawa watching him from atop the castle. 'Was I really like that?' the 'human' questioned. 'I suppose I must thank the digidestined for something at least. You are fortunate that they survived, Dragomon, had they not, you would pay one hell of a price for it.' He turned around. 'Now then,' he thought as he open a portal. Walking though it, he arrivedaround the base ofMount Fuji. 'So the stage is now in the real world.'A sinister smirk appeared on his lips. Intresting.' The 'human' thought as he walked to his house, whistling along the way.


	17. Fallen Hope

I don't own digimon.

Koi, yeah I have a tendency to do that. Hope this'll clear things up.  
Forlorn, I can't make any promises,( with life being all unpredictable) but if possible, I will finish this.

Chapter 16 - Fallen Hope

Tai Kamiya, currently a struggling college student at Odaiba University, drumed his pencil on a blank piece of paper, his bordem obvious. It was currently the fourth day in a week long assignment for literature, and he still had nothing. Well, he did have something, but he doubted the sentence 'Literature sucks.' would satisfy 'Hardass' Haisuna. The former leader of the Digidestined slammed his head on the desk in fustration. Doing so lead to a bout of giggles behind him. " Shut up, Agumon." he muttered.

The orange digimon apoligized. "Sorry Tai. Why don't you call Izzy up and ask him for help?"

Tai didn't lift his head as he muttered, "I already tried that. He said, and I quote, 'Your going to have to do your own damn work this time.' and hung up. I swear, ever since Jun hooked up with that one guy he's been such an ass."

Agumon sat up from the bed he was laying/ jumping on. "Yeah. What was his name? Jou- something?"

Tai put his head in his hands. "Jounouchi. He's into that weird card game. He's pretty childish."

The dinosaur digimon suppressed a chuckle. "You two have alot in common from what I've seen." Agumon was enjoying himself so much that he didn't see the thick literature book till it smacked him in the face. "Ouch! Geez, can't take a joke can we?"

"Sorry." Tai said, but not really meaning it.

"Ok, so Izzy's out." Agumon quickly changed the subject in order to avoid thick pieces of literature. "What about Jun, Joe or Sora?"

"Sora and I just broke up, so that's out. I haven't been able to reach Jun since she meet Jounouchi and I really don't wanna think about what they're doin'. And Joe," He raised his eyebrow. "That might work." he said to himself.

As he went to pick up the phone, however, it began to ring. He looked at the caller ID on the phone. 'Odaiba Hospital. Why would they call me?' He picked up the phone and put it to his ear, silently praying that noone he knew was hurt. "Hello, Tai Kamiya speaking."

The voice on the other end was more than familiar. "Tai, it's Joe."

"Joe! I was just about to call you! Listen, I need..." Tai didn't finish, as Joe cut him off.

"Listen, Tai." his voice was laced with a seriousness only he posessed. "You need to hear this. It's about Kari, she's here."

Tai didn't digest this information for a few seconds. When his brain decided to work, he found he could barely speak. "W...what did you say?" and he tried, tried not give in to the hope. The hope that what he had waited for for three years had finally come. Because the pain would multiply when it turn out to be false. Because it was always false. Just someone playing a cruel joke (and earning more than a little beating), or a misunderstanding, or a guy-who-knows-a-guy-who-has-a-cousin-whose-girlfriend-saw-...them, as they had been know. His sister, his best friend, and so many others that disappeared in one day.

"It's really her this time. I confirmed it with a blood test."

Tai almost broke into tears, almost gave into hope. But he learned from experience that it didn't exist anymore. Too many things reminded him of this fact, like a girl, no, woman, named Sora that live a block away and promised him forever, only to learn that forever ended when your girlfriend sleeps with another person. Or a best friend and little sister that disappeared because they had 'responsiblites'. So he wasn't surprised when he heard Joe say 'But,'.

"But, she's in some type of coma. I can't explain everything now. Just... come down here and she her." Before Tai could respond, Joe hung up. Tai sat there for a full two seconds before grabbing his keys and rising for his seat and walking to the door. "Agumon, we're leaving."

This surprised his partner. "Wha... why? Don't you have a pa...?"

Tai's response silenced him. "It's Kari." he said plainly, emotionlessly as he undid the locks on the door. The digimon said nothing else, for a time, then remembered. "Shouldn't we better prepare ourselves?"

"It's 9 o'cloak at night. I doubt anyone will pay much attention to you.

"Actually," the digimon's concerns were made apparent when Tai openned the door and felt a very cold draft. "There's about five inches of snow outside, and your wearing a T-shirt and boxers."

The former leader scrathed the back of his head sheepishly as he closed the door withthe other hand. "You know, maybe, we will put on a little something."  
OXOXOXO

"Ok," Davis said, looking at everyone, "Does everyone here remember the plan?"

"Pretty hard not to." said Veemon. "All were doing is sneaking in." The Keeper of Courage sighed heavily. 'Live it to MY partner to rain on a guy's parade.' "It's NOT just 'sneaking in', it's.. it's,"

"Sneaking in." the blue digimon said plainly, causing everyone to chuckle. Even Yolei cracked a smile. "You know what, let's just get some sleep. We all know the plan," before Veemon could say anything, Davis cut him out, "Shut up, and it's getting pretty late. Veemon, you stand guard. Wake me up in a few hours." and with that, he walked and laid onto a tree and went to sleep.

OXOXO  
The Digimon Emperor sat at his deck and look over the video carefully. The screen showed the battle he and his other self had the other day. Though he was exicted by the upcoming battle, he wanted to make sure his foe was who he thought he was. After all, The Emperor hated disappointment. He froze it when it showed a good look at his face. After a little editing, he was satisfied. This was indeed another version of him. It was simply illogical for him not to be.

He rosed from his seat, walked over to his large closet and opened it. Grabing one of many outfits, most of which were the same, and a towel, he made his way to the shower. Sleep simply wasn't an option. However, he could oversee project Dante. From what he saw, it still had some bugs that need to be ironed out. But for now, he needed a shower.  
OXOXO

As Oikawa walked into the backdoor of his house at Mount Fuji, he was greeted by a female voice. "So how did it go?"

The former digimon turned to see a small, cat-like black form curled up lazily on the the counter. He regarded her with little surprise. "Though things did not go as planned, I must say it was intresting."

The black form raised her eyebrow. "Really? So what happened?" Oikawa didn't say anything for a time. He simply walked to the counter, retrieve a glass and pour a glass of water before sitting down by the table. "There's a new cast member in our little play. He's with four digimon, two of which are his partner from what I can gather. He and a Phantomon beat the hell out of Dragomon and some how saved the child of Light."

The cat-like form jumped to the table with praticed ease and recurled herself. "And, what about Dragomon?"

Oikawa smirked. "He used my crystal."

The black form frowned. She was well aware of Oikawa's little brain child, and the power it possessed. It was, quite simply, a mini Dark Seed. However, it was only useble in the hands of dark digimon, and more potent in the point were you could channel emotions into it. The more powerful the emotion, the more powerful you become when you release it, usually via shattering the crystal. It could make you strong enough to take on even a guardian. The problem was that the power drove you insane and made you a unknowing slave to Oikawa. Of course, that wasn't much of a problem for Oikawa.

"And?" she persisted.

Oikawa took a sip of his water. "It was successful. I'm sure you've heard of Imperialdramon?" the female digimon nodded in agreement. "Well, this new guy has one, and Dragomon, or Vemon Myotismon did quite a bit of damage to him. It forced him and his Digimon to retreat to the real world. The girl may have gotten away, but in the state she's in, I can recapture her easily."

"Any idea who the wonder boy is?"

"I have my suspicsions. Now, Black Gatomon, were is Mummymon?"

The digimon shrugged. "Said he was going shoppin'."

Oikawa finished his water, then got up. "Very well. I'm going to sleep. Wake me if anything important happens."

OXOXO  
On the roof next to Odaiba Hospital, -Ken- watched Kari being checked over by Joe from a window. Joe looked behind himself, then looked back to his paitent. He saw who it was as Tai appear next to his friend. They were talking, about what, he didn't know. Joe presented something to Tai. 'Must be the note.'-Ken- thought. Tai looked over it, stuffed it into his pocket, and went by Kari's bed side. -Ken- continued to watch, because that's all he could ever do.

Flashback

He watched as Davis fell to the ground with a boneless thud, bloodied and battered. Seconds later, a girl, around 15, appear out of nowhere, back facing him. She wore a long, pitch black cape with a blood red inside. Her clothing was that of an aristocrat.

She looked down at Davis body. Then fall to her knees, tears in her eyes. She held him close and cried in his chest. As -Ken- watched, he momentarily forgot he might have killed the (friend, boyfriend, lover, soulmate? he didn't feel like picking one at the time) of a pychopath. Her head whipped around, facing him with blood red eyes . Before he could feel fear, a burning red whip of energy whipped around his legs, and soon after, his back meet the wall.

End Flashback

Ken- closed his eyes as Saguru floated beside him. "-Ken-, is something bothering you?"

The silver haired boy ran his hand thru his hair, a sure sign that something was bothering him. Veemon and Wormmon would have saw had they not been sulking over their lose to Venom Myotismon. "No." he lied. "Let's get to the meeting point. Tai and the other's should be there soon. I'll tell you and Hiei what you want to know on the way.

OXOXO

Later that night, in the Digi World, Davis sat from a tree, watching the area closily. Veemon had just woken him him up, meaning it was his turn for guard duty. Out of no where, he heard a whisper. "Davis! Hey Davis!" he looked down to see Matt try to get his attention. He looked closely. 'Why is Yolei sleeping on Matt's shoulder?' The Keeper jumped down soundlessly and sat next to Matt. The blond grinned, as if reading his mind. "She's my girlfriend."

Davis' eyes widenned. "But she's seems so..."

"Cold, heartless, a mean bitch?" Matt said as if reading a check list.

"Well, excluding the last one, yeah."

"Those are some of the things people call her. Except for those that know her, like me, Cody and her squad." He kissed her forehead. "She wasn't always like this. Of course, we both know that." Matt's eyes grew distant. "It started around the beginning of this damn war. Even I was irritated with her back then. We got trapped in little Edo. All she did was complain. Guess she wasn't ready for what was asked of her. I... I just snapped at her. I didn't hurt her, physicly, anyway. When we were found, the Emperor's people found us too. A lot of people dead infront of her. She hasn't been the same since."

He looked at Yolei's sleeping form. "She just stopped caring. She took some of the worst missions, one even Tai would decline. It as if she wanted to die. I guess, I felt sorry. For her, for what I said. I guess I started gettin' feelings for her then."

Davis frowned. "You felt sorry for her." it wasn't a question.

Matt laughed quietly. "At first, yeah. I was better able to cope with this, I guess. Don't get me wrong though. If I dated every girl I felt sorry then I'd have a lot women. To tell you the truth. I don't know how I fell for her. One minute we're arguing about what battle plan to take, the next were sneaking off to make out or somethin'." Matt saw Davis' eyebrow raise. "Not that 'or something', you little pervert." Matt growled.

Davis threw his hands up in defense. "Did I say anything?"

Matt cleared his throat and was thankful it was night, so Davis couldn't see him blushing. "Anyway, it doesn't matter."

"Sooo, what did you call me down for?" Davis asked as he realized the fell off track talking about Yolei. Matt's face turned serious. "It's about TK. Rosemon said she sensed something was off about him when she saw him. What do you think..."

There was a sudden gust of wind causing the two to look up. They saw someone floating above them. He had six pure white wings, a golden, shimmering staff in his left hand, a long gold ribbon going over his shoulders and a long glowing blade on his wrist. He was wearing a jumpsuit similar to Magna Angemon, but as the duo saw his face, they gasped aloud. It wasn't Angemon or Magna Angemon staring at them, it was TK.

Davis' words summed up what the two were thinking. "That.. might have something to do with it."


	18. Who Needs Enemies?

I don't own Digimon.

Forlorn - Steep, eh? I'll see what I can do.

Koi - Heh, yeah. I like a psychopathic Kari too. You'll be hearing on that as the chapters come.

Chapter 17 - Who Needs Enemies?

Time seemed to stop as Davis and Matt looked up a TK. Honestly, neither knew what to say. But then, seeing someone after three years with wings on their back can do that. TK continued to look down on the two, not making a move. It was as if he was waiting for something. That something must have came, as the blond began to swoop down, staff raised. Davis wasted no time, forming a shield and moving infront of Matt to block, bracing. The gap between them closed, and a loud 'CLANG' soon followed.

Davis gritted his teeth, he could feel himself being pushed back. 'What the hell?' he wondered. "Matt, you should move now." he whispered. Matt, dumbstruck by the entire situation, nodded weakly as grabbed a still sleeping Yolei and complied. 'Now that that's outta the way..' he quickly dodged TK's staff as it slammed into the tree, making quite the dent. TK quickly went on the offensive again, swinging his staff with ease while Davis barely dodged.

Davis formed a sword, and the two weapons clashed. As the two Chosen struggled for power, Davis took a good look at TK, or more specifically, the flashing red symbols around TK's neck. 'A Dark Ri...' he didn't finish the thought, because TK kicked him in the stomach, causing him to fly into a tree.Trying to regain his breath, Davis looked up to see the blond flying at him, glowing arm blade ready to impale him. The Keeper of Courage quickly ducked before the blade met the tree. He kicked up, sending the blond into the air. He jumped to his feet and formed the gauntlets as TK quickly recovered and came after him yet again. 'Gotta time this just right.'

TK swung the staff downward. With perfect timing, Davis' hands shot up, catching the staff. TK struggled, yet couldn't get it free, much to Davis' relief. The Keeper's eyes widened in horror, as TK let go of the staff and reared his glowing fist back. In a monotone voice, TK spoke. "Hand of Fate." TK punched Davis in the gut, then unleashed the attack. The beam sent Davis flying, stumbling, and bouncing off of a tree. Coughing up blood, with a severe burn on his stomach, he was painfully aware that TK was flying at him again. Through the pain, he managed to move to his left. TK didn't score a direct hit, but that didn't stop the blinding pain that followed TK's blade as it entered hisright  
shoulder. The scream that followed wasn't much of a comfort.

Breath ragged, Davis looked up a TK, staff in hand, prepared to deliver the finishing blow. Davis looked away, disgusted with the fact that he was about to be killed by his friend.

Suddenly, a shot rang threw the night, followed by the sound of metal deflecting something. Davis looked up to see Yolei, wide awake a shotgun trained on TK. And TK, staff covering his head where the bullet would've hit him.

"TK," Yolei began. "It's been a while." She fired another shot, causing TK to take to the air. TK twisted, turned, danced in the air as Yolei continued to fire. The fact that there were a number of trees around made it more unbelievable. Davis noticed his wings inside grow darker. "Look out!" he shouted. TK's same, emotionless voice spoke. "Star Shower." The flurry of golden stars shot from his wings. She managed to dodge most of them, but a few got to her in the leg. As TK went in for the kill, a large boomerang slamed into the side of his head, making him veer off course and into a tree. Davis caught the boomerang, turned it into a sword, and used the weapon as a crutch.

Regaining his balance, Davis held the sword to his side as TK began to recover. 'Round two.' Davis though darkly as he prepared himself.

OXOXO

"Heh, I tell ya, kid, you sure can cause some hell." Jounouchi said to Ken as the two drove to Jun's apartment. Wormmon, Veemon, Saguru and Hiei (now an Agumon) were in the back seat. Ken sat in the front, silver, spiky hair gone and looking out the window.

"Sorry."

"Ahh, don't worry about it. I sure Tai and friends will trust ya sooner or later. You DID save his sister after all."

Ken raised an eyebrow and spared Jou an glance. "You seem to be taking this pretty well."

"What, the whole dimension thing?" Ken nodded and Jou grinned. "Let's just say I've seen my fair share of weird shit." He chuckled to himself. "Kaiba'd probably call 'a bunch of hocus pocus nonsense' or somethin'." he spoke the last part in imitaition.

"Anyway, I've got nothing against ya." His face turned serious. "But your eyes remind me of someone. Someone who held too much in and almost paid with her life." He stopped for a second, and Ken could see so many things. Anger, regret and something else. It was gone a second later, but Ken didn't forget. "Your eyes are much sadder though." Jou said after a time. The rest of the ride passed in silience.

OXOXO

TK's atention was once again on Davis. As soon as he recovered, TK charged for him, something close to anger on his face. Davis, prepared for this, threw the sword at TK. Before TK dodged it, the sword exploded into a wall of flames, engulfing the winged chosen. TK, with his face covered to protect it from serious burns, didn't see Davis, gauntlets reformed, strike his as hard as possible. The winged one fell to the ground head first with a sickening crack. Davis didn't let up. Running to TK's fallen form, he kicked him up and punched him into a tree.

Before TK could get up, Davis placed his foot on TK's chest and raised his arm, intent on destroying that damned ring on his neck. As he drove his fist home, TK grabbed it in time. Davis swore. Whatever they did to TK made just as strong as him. Jumping back in order to avoid TK's Hand of Fate, Davis analized the situation. 'Ok, I'm fighting my friend/ rival, who happens to look like all his digimon combined, plus has their powers, strength and speed all rolled into one hell of an enemy. He's lookin' pretty tired though. I gotta out last him and then... wait, where the hell are the digimon?' He sparred a glance to Matt and Yolei's direction, ignoring the amazed looks they gave him, to see the digimon... sleeping.

"You've gotta be kid.." he didn't finish, as TK rammed his fist into his jaw. Flying back, Davis managed to regain his balance, digging the nails of the gauntlets into the ground to slow himself. He reformed a sword once more, because he knew this was his chance. As he expected, TK was coming at him again, bladeready.

This was it. Make it or break it. "Please let this work." he whispered as he thrusted his sword forward.

OXOXO

As Ken took his shoes off at the door and the shook the snow off of themselves, Jounouchi spread his arms.

"Welcome to your home for..." Jounouchi stopped for a few seconds, not sure what to say. "Yo Jun!" He called around the corner. The sound and smell of fried rice was in the air. "How long can this guys stay here?"

"As long as they need to, idiot!" called a femalevoice. Jou was about to retort, but then his face almost lost color as realization dawned on him. He then turned around to face them. "Welcome." he said sourly. He then went off to mutter something Ken coundn't quite hear, but wasn't sure he wanted to. The four walked to see Jou on the couch, sulking with his arms folded.Siting next to him was a black form playing a Nintendo Gamecube, though neither of the four knew what it was.

"Don't mind the idiot." said the form. "He's just pissed he won't be gettin' any for a while." Jou's response to this, wasa whack on the head. "Shut up Impmon."

On thetelevision were two men driving a go cart. As Jou hit Impmon, the cart veered of course. "Ow, damnit! You'll ruin my score!"

Jou shrugged."Doesn't matter. You'll never beat me. I AM the king of Mario Double Dash. Plain and simple."

Jun's voice interupted the two. "Are you two arguing?" her tone a few steps short of menacing.

The two stopped immediatly. In comedic unison, replying, "No."

"Good."

As Ken and his companion's watched on, they couldn't help but wonder, what they had gotten into.

OXOXO

The two stood there for a time. Davis, sword an inch for TK's neck, grinned in triumph as the dark ring fell from TK's neck. Even the fact that TK's wrist blade was in his leftshoulder didn't damper that grin. Slowly, TK's eyes began to regain recognition as he looked at the Keeper helplessly. "D.. Davis." he whispered as the outfit, the wings and the weapon's began to disappear, his ragged clothing replacing everything. Davis caught him as he began to fall.

"Davis. I.. I sor..ry. I c-couldn't s.." his head slumped to the side. "TK!" Matt yelled as he ran to his brother's side. "Is he?"

Davis checked his pluse. "No, he's just unconsious. That was a hell of a fight." he said as he handed TK over to his brother.

"Then why aren't you...?" he stopped as he saw Davis fall to the ground.

OXOXO

There's going to be a time jump soon. Don't know were, don't know when, but soon. It's only going to be a month or two. I might be years! (fakes horrified expression) Anyway, let me know what you think of the chapter.


	19. After the Fact

I don't own Digimon.

Koi - (Bangs head against wall) Damn! I KNEW I forgot something! I explain a little in this chapter.

Jo - Yes Jounouchi is the very same one from Yu Gi Oh!. Think of him as a guest star. There will be other characters from other anime as well. No one will have a very major role, but Jou's not the first. As for Jou and Jun, well I love odd pairings. When I was watching Digimon on ABC family while still writing this, then Yu Gi Oh on WB, well let's just say it was temporary insanity. Also, I believe in doing the best with what you got. So instead of using an OC, in used the seldom used Jun.

Chapter 18 - After the Fact

One Hour Later

"Calm down, Matt." Yolei muttered as see looked over the unconsious chosen in front of her. All Matt had been doing for the past hour was pacing back and forth. Matt grunted in respond.

"How can you expect me to be calm? My friend and my brother just had a good ol' fashion battle to the death, and I couldn't do a damn thing!"

The lavender haired girl shrugged. "So? People shouldn't regret things if they couldn't do anything. You an' me couldn't do a thing against TK, except distract him. That's just the way it is. Now stop sulking and help me fix this two up."

As he sat next the Yolei, the leader of the resistance grumbled. "Ya know, you can be a real bitch sometimes."

Her response to this was a kiss on the cheek, then a slap on the head. "Love you too, Matt."

OXOXO

Jun's household was, to say the least, really strange. First Ken observed the occupants. First was Jounouchi, whom Ken met first. He could tell Jou wasn't the type of guy to look at you based on appearance or what he heard. He took you for what you showed him and that was that. He was a little dense, though. He also held a fascination with this a game called Duel Monsters. Whatever it was, it must have paid well, since Jou paid for Jun's appartment and and some of her things. Jou was a pretty nice guy from what he could tell.

Next was Impmon. When he saw Impmon on the couch, he was pretty worried. The last Impmon he encountered was in the Tamers world. From what he heard, he had an inferiority complex due to the lack of his ability to digivolve. He could see the same thing in this one as well.

As he observed him, Ken couldn't help but shaked his head. Little did he know was that he COULD digivolve.The problem was what he digivolved into. Beelzemon was extremely powerful digimon. His raw power easily matched Black War Greymon's and his fire power at full power rivaled Imperialdramon's Mega Death. Not surprising, considering he was one of the Seven Great Demon Lords. He didn't know if this Impmon could handle that kind of power.

Ken didn't know what to do about the digimon, but he know he'd have to help with Impmon's problem. He might become a little to power hungry. He also saw the little power struggle between him and Jou. So he must Jun's partner.

Lastly, was Jun. Jun, to some extent, reminded him of Mimi. She didn't take crap from anyone. He also saw that, based on her living room, that Jun was an otaku. Manga, anime and video games of all sorts surrounded her TV. Seeing as how a college student shouldn't be able to afford all that, he surmissed that it was Jounouchi.

He looked over the room. Veemon, Wormmon, Impmon and Saguru were engaged in a game of Mario Kart Double Dash. Hiei was sleeping quietly in the corner. Jounouchi and Jun were next to each other on the couch, reading a book of some sort. Ken, seated in a chair next to the couch, shrugged and continued to eat the fried rice and ramen Jun prepared.

Suddenly, without warning, his mind wandered to Kari. He suddenly felt sick. Here he was, seating on his behind, eating food and joking around. While Kari's in a hospitial, suffering from who knows what. He sit the plate down a walked to the door. "I'm getting some fresh air." he muttered.

"Be careful not to let anyone see you." Jun informed. It went without saying, of course. But it helped to be careful.

The meeting with Tai and the other Chosen went better than expected. Fact was, he was expecting the common 'Kill the Emperor!' approuch. They listened to what he had to say, which was all that Ken could ask for. They didn't trust him, as predicted. Tai felt obligated to at least help him find a place to stay, so Jounouchi and Jun voluntered, since they had plenty of space. Ken turned the wrist Digivice for Wormmon over Izzy so he could study it. And it provided colatieral in case Ken tried something, though he didn't intend to.

Elbows on the second floor railing, Ken took a deep breath. To the average onlooked. He was relaxing at the site of the city. However, inside was nothing but bitter regret. 'Why?' It always came down to that question. Why did his parents die? Why did his best friend die? Why did...

At that moment, he wished he hadn't thought that. The question that always plagued him.The one that keep him up most of the night. The one responsible for so many tears and bitterness buried so deep even Wormmon couldn't see it. Why did Mimi die?

And everytime he asked himself that, the Dark Seed would seize the oppurtunity. Try to twist his thoughts. It never worked. But every time it got closer. He could feel himself give in a little each day. One day, he would snap. At some point, everyone does.

Flashback

Pain shot thru him as Kari twisted her heel into Ken's back. His entire body ached, but that didn't stop him from hearing her.

"You know, I don't think I'll kill you. No, that won't do." She reached down, grabbed him by the neck, and lifted him withher left hand so they were face to face. In a second, Ken's arm lashed at her, the sword in his right hand trained for Kari's head. She smiled sweetly at him as she raised her other hand and caught the blade in between two fingers. With the two fingers, she yanked the sword from his hands and threw it to the other side of the room.

"Your so lively! No, I can't kill you yet." The girl threw his back against the nearst debris. Kari giggled in his screams. Slowly her smile faded and she was gazing at him with red eyes. "You'll have to pay for what you did." She formed a red whip in her hand, and She smiled a smile of pure bliss as she saw Ken's eyes light up with fear.

End Flashback

Ken's hands unconsiously rubbed the scars on his forearms and shuddered. He hated doing that. Thinking about the past. Thinking he's the main character in an endless struggle( though after hearing about a certain TV show in the Tamers world got him wondering). It's easy to forget and regret after the fact. The problem is making it go away.

'It's getting cold.' he decided. As he turned to leave, however, his eyes wondered down into the parking lot. Did something just move?

Ken looked back at the apartment, before jumping down. As he walked into the parking lot, his right hand wandered to his sword on instinct. He could already feel several eyes on him, but didn't know were. The Keeper held his left hand out and kept his hand on the steath. He could barely see as it is. There was enough light in the area to see something infront of him, but that's it.

The area around him provided enough space for a fight.

Something moved at his left. 'There!' He saw a black form jump at him, claws outstretched. Using his left hand he batted the things arms alway. All the creature saw was a flash of steel, then it's head came off. Five more jumped at Ken, but he was prepared. He sliced one down, then turned on his heel and cut another one. The three remaining backed off and began circle him. 'This is getting old.' Ken decided. One of the jumped forward. Ken grabbed his arm and spun around, tossing him into the second one. As the two colided the Keeper grabbed his whip and wrapped it around the third. With a hard tug, the third flew at him and meet Ken's sword. He turned to the direction of the remaining creatures. The two were circling him again. Before they could pounce, a voice stopped them. "That'll be enough you two."

The two nodded and seemingly disappeared. "I gotta say I'm impressed." Said the voice. " One of those is enough to take out your average champion digimon." From what he could tell it was female. The was a flash and a light came at him with lightning speed. He barely side stepped to avoid a direct hit, but it still grazed his right leg. He looked to see a Black Gatomon sitting of a car infront of him. "Even avoided a direct hit from my Lightning Claw. A few inches and that would've taken your leg."

"A Black Gatomon, huh? What do you want?"

"Oikawa wanted to give you a message. He says he won't come after Kari just yet. He wouldn't tell me exactly why. Something about her state or somethin', I don't know. But he want's you to know. Thinks you can provide him with some entertainment. I never did understand that guy."

The cat digimon grinned ferally. "I however, want to have more fun." She raised her claws.

Ken raised his hand. "I'd rather not. That is, if you want this to be intact." He held up something, and the digimon gasped, looking at her back. "How did you?"

Ken tossed the Tail Ring up and down, before pocketing it. "Swipped it from ya when you did your little attack. You could fight me now, but without your ring you at a serious disadvantage."

The digimon huffed. "That's pretty damn low. Don't you good guys have any honor and what not?"

"I'm no samurai. I have no use for honor."

The digimon actually smirked. "For a human, your not half bad." With that, she disappeared.

Ken made sure she was gone first before walking back to Jun's appartment. 'A Black Gatomon, a Bakemon and an Impmon. Three possible Demon Lords. They may just come in handy.' As Ken walked back to the appartment, he couldn't help but feel something of a villain and a schemer.

XOXOXOXOX

The Seven Great Demon Lords a group of digimon that represent the seven deadly sins. Three will most likely appear in this.


	20. Vestige

I don't own Digimon

Forlorn - Yeah, I noticed after I reread the thing. I'll try to fix em' as I go.

Chapter 19 - Vestige

Davis slowly opened his eyes. Based on the few nerve cells that worked at this point, he had a VERY large headache, and his body hurt VERY much.He heard a female voice. "Hmm, your still alive? How 'bout that."

Davis saw Yolei hovering above him and replied dryly. "Glad to see you were worried." Yolei shrugged indifferently. "Is TK ok?" She nodded and he breathed a sigh of relief. He winced as hesat up against the tree behind. "What time is it?"

Yolei checked her watch. "7 am."

"And I take it Veemon isn't up yet?"

"Nope. Still out." She muttered as she looked at the blue digimon's direction. She suddenly heard a beeping noise. "What's that?"

"That's my D- Terminal. Hold on."

Davisfished it out and flicked it open. "We got her? What's that..." his eyes widened in recognition, then he grinned. "Ken, he saved her! He saved Kari!" He looked back down.

"Huh? There's more. 'We got her. But something's wrong. I don't know what, but Myotismon is responsible. I'm in the real world staying at Jun's. Everyone's well.' "

Davis nodded at the information, though he didn't know who Myotismon was exactly. He remembered hearing that named before, but didn't know where. He looked at Yolei. "You know anything about this Myotismon?" The girl shrugged.

He noticed something. Looking around, he asked."Where's Matt, Gabumon and Rosemon?"

"Well..."

* * *

"Are you sure about this Matt?" Gabumon questioned as he looked at the base below him. 

Matt's voice didn't waver. "Yes. I want answers, and I'm going to get them." he stated.

Gabumon wasn't done though. "Have you you considered the possiblity that there's a trap?"

"Yes."

"Have you considered that this plan of action may be suicide?"

"Yes."

Gabumon sracthed his head, sighing. "Do you give a damn?"

"No."

Rosemon watched the entire exchange. Truth be told, she didn't know where she stood. On one hand, she didn't want either Gabumon or Matt to go on such a risky venture. Yet on the other, if it had been Ken or Mimi, she'd do the same thing as Matt. All she could was make sure none of them got killed.

"That's enough, Gabumon. I'm going." With that he began climbing done the cliff. Rosemon, then Gabumon joined him. If Rosemon was worried, Gabumon was terriefied. Not only were the odd against them, but based on the amount of wincing Matt was doing as he climbed down, his wounds haven't healed. However, he knew there was no stopping his partner when he decided something. With a sigh, he decided this really wasn't turning into a good day.

* * *

"I don't get it. Why didn't you go with them?" Asked Davis. 

This caught Yolei off guard. In poorly disguised expression of neutrality, she asked. "Why would I? I'm not his dog. If he want's to get killed let him."

Davis assumed a confused expression. "But... I thought you were his girlfriend. Don't you want to make sure he's safe?"

Yolei's eyes widened slightly, before whispering, "Another thing I need to kill him for."

Yolei got up and walked over to TK, checking up on him. "Matt doesn't need me. He has Rosemon and Gabumon with him. Since Gabumon can warp-digivolve now, he has two mega level digimon. Besides, you and TK and injured. If one of the Emperor's men came by you two'd be die before he finished blinking."

Davis said nothing afterward, because he noticed something. Despite the fact that they hadn't meet in two years, somethings about people never change, and some feelings you can't hide.Yolei may act as cold as the arctic, but her shaking hands and slight fidgeting told him otherwise. She was scared, frightened even. If this new Yolei, this heartless, cold as ice Yolei was frightened, he knew he should be too.

* * *

Matt and his party easily sneak around, avoiding the guards. Dispite their advantage in numbers, the digimon at this base were idiots. As they entered the command center however, they ran into several armed digimon. Metal Garurumon cursed their luck, Rosemon said nothing, and Matt drew his sword. 

"Kill 'em all." He said venomously.

The said digimon fired a barrage of bullets and missiles. Those were intercepted by by Metal Garurumon, as he fired his own missiles. The was a eruption of smoke, and they were caught of guard when Matt and Rosemon emerged, slicing and slashing thru them. Before the digimon could retaliate, the other mega, froze them solid, then deleted them. Matt didn't stop for a second. "Let's go."

* * *

Skull Meramon smirked at the arrogance of the foolish human and digimon in his base. Kill a few grunts and you think you own the place? He knew that even he wasn't a match for a mega, let alone two. But, he had the perfect tools to make them regret their foolishness. 

The ultimate turned from the screen and pressed a red button. The Vestige didn't return from his patrol last night. It's unlikely he'd be defeated, but the blondhuman and hisdigimon may have. Best to recall him. The Vestige was a powerful tool, and the Emperor would have his head if he let him get away.

After pressing the recall button, he moved to a consule next to him. The next tool had to be prepared. He may not be stable, buthe got the job done.

* * *

Dreaming. He was dreaming. He was with his friends, at the park. They were playing soccer, a game they usually played. They were having a good time, he was having a good time. It was to be expected, after all. Because Kari was here. Patamon was here. This was all he needed. 

But then he remembered he was dreaming. He had dreamt this dream many times, but the next part always hurt, desipt knowing it was going to happen. A giant gloved hand reached out of the ground, crushing Davis, Yolei, and Cody with ease. The gloved hand climbed out of the ground, revealing the Emperor, laughing insanely. Their digimon were deleted in a storm of fire. He looked around. Instead of the lush greenary of the park, fire surrounded them. He looked for Kari and Patamon, as he had done millions of times. Kari was snatched up and absorbed by a shadowed figure with a red and black cape, then she became something hidious.Patamon was flying next to him. Red eyes looked back at him as the digimon smirked and flew into him. He felt the difinition of agony a second later. He heard the same laughter he always heard, andthe dream turned nightmare ended when TK awore, screaming.

* * *

Davis looked up in surprise as he heard TK screaming. He was grasping his head, breathing heavily, and whispering something he couldn't make out as he body began changing.Yolei tried restraining him, but she wasn't strong enough, as he flung her away. One by one six white wings bursted out of TK's back as his body changed into what he was last night. He suddenly took to the air, and flew into the direction of the base. 


End file.
